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600081988/

.^f

SCHOOL EDITION.

THE

ANNALS OF ENGLAND,

B.C. 57 to A.D. 1154,

(BRITONS, ROMANS, SAXONS, NORMANS):

EPITOME OF ENGLISH HISTORY,

FROM CONTEMPORARY WRITERS.

WLm Notes mtf m

OZFOBD AND LONDOH!
JAMES PARKER AND CO.

1877.

/7 M

^ r^

NOTICE.

T^HE School Edition of "The Annals of Eng-
land" has been prepared to suit the present
system of teaching History in Periods, usually one
to each Term. Other works having the same end
in view exist, but the complaint is often made, that
most of them are in reality Historical Sketches, to
understand which demands a much more full ac-
quaintance with the details of name, place and date,
than is usually to be found among schoolboys. Re-
cognising this complaint as well founded, the Com-
piler of the present Work has endeavoured to supply
a remedy. His object has been to present, in the
fewest possible words, distinct statements of the facts
on which the generalizations of the valuable Works
in question are founded, and thus to supply a ma-
terial help to their profitable study. To fiimish this,
in a small compass and at a moderate cost, the text
of the Library Edition of the Annals has been care-
fully condensed, and it is trusted that the result will
be serviceable alike to the Master, and to the Scholar.
The aim has been, to save the one the labour of
supplying the deficiencies of his Text-books, and to
give the other a store of positive knowledge essential
to his sound progress, but hitherto not readily at-
tainable.

ADVERTISEMENT.

nPHE main events of twelve centuries of English
history are here succinctly given, divided into
the Roman, the Saxon, and the Norman Eras. Some
indication of the best works for the further study
of each Era will, it is trusted, be of service to the
young, for whom this Work has been prepared.

I. For the early part of the Roman Era the 5th
and 6th books of Caesar's "Gallic War" and the
"Annals" of Tacitus are the only real guides.
Several other Classical writers have notices of British
history, but they are only brief and fragmentary.
Coins and inscriptions are all that we have as
material for history henceforth, but the information
that they afford has been carefully collected, and
the result will be found in such works as Horsley's
" Britannia Romana," and Evans' " Coins of the
Ancient Britons."

II. The Saxon Era is chiefly to be studied in the
" Ecclesiastical History" of Bede, and the " Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle," which is based on Bede, and
carries on the tale even beyond the fall of the
Saxon monarchy. The numerous writers known
under the general name of the Early Chroniclers —
as Florence of Worcester, Simeon of Durham, Henry
of Huntingdon, Roger of Wendover, and Matthew

ti ADVERTISEMENT.

of Westminster, furnish many useful additions to
these works, of which sufficient summaries are to
be found in Lappenberg's " England under the
Anglo-Saxon Kings," and Kemble's "Saxons in
England." For the latter part of the period the
best book is the "History of the Norman Con-
quest" by Freeman, who has also produced a small,
but most useful work on " Old English History."

III. For the Norman Era the authorities are
abundant. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" extends
through the whole period, and to it a number of
writers are to be added, who, generally, give a more
favourable picture of the Norman rule. Among
them are William of Poitou, Orderic Vitalis, Eadmer,
and the author of the Gesta Stephani. With them
should be read the Chroniclers already named, and
the later volumes of Freeman's " Norman Conquest."
For both the Saxon and the Norman eras, the works
of Sir Francis Palgrave ("The English Common-
wealth," and " History of England and Normandy")
should be consulted; and Stubbs* "Constitutional
History" is essential to a right understanding of
the gradual progress of the country from the com-
paratively rude institutions of the Saxons, to the
orderly though severe government introduced by
their Norman invaders.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction ...... i

The Roman Era

Period of Roman Invasion

id.

Period of Roman Occupation .

Events in General History

Britain Independent .

Note. — Vague Knowledge of Britain

> t

The Saxon Era

The Heptarchy

Scotland ....

> 47

Ireland ....

The Bretwaldas

. id.

Wales ....

The Northmen

Ireland

. 68

Egbert ....

Ethelwulf ....

id.

Scotland and Wales .

Ethelbald and Ethelbert .

. 76

Ethelred

► 77

Alfred the Great .

. 79

The Anglo-Danes

. 83

Edward I., called the Elder .

■•

Wales

. 90

Athelstan

► 94

Edmund I. .

► 95

Edred ....

. 96

Edwy ....

. 98

Edgar ....

Edward II., called the Martyr

100

Ethelred II. .

lOI

▼m CONTENTS.

PAGE

Edmund Ironside . . . . . 1 1 1

Canute

113

Harold I. . .

Harthacnut ....

117

Edward the Confessor

. 118

Harold II. .

. 128

Anglo-Saxon Laws and Government .

. 134

Events in General History

. 150

The Norman Era

152

William I. .

158

Wales ....

164

The New Forest

171

The Domesday Book .

. 173

Events in General History

. 179

William II. .

. 180

The Crusades .

. 185

Events in General History

190

Henry I. . . . .

■ 191

Events in General History

200

Stephen ....

201

Events in General History

. 208

Note.— The Cinque Ports

ib.

DonUe CimnlHli at Fks Bnrrld, in iLiissey.

INTRODUCTION.

THE Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, following the Venerable
Bede, the earliest English writer who deserves the
name of historian, commences its narrative with a brief
description of Britain, and a legend of its first peopling.

" The island of Britain is eight hundred miles long, and
two hundred miles broad : and here in thfe island are five
tongues, English, British, Scottish, Pictish, and Latin.
The first inhabitants of this land were Britons ; they
came from Armenia (Armorica, now Brittany), and first
settled in the south of Britain. Then befel it that Picts
came from the south, fi-om Scythia, with long ships, not
many, and first landed in North Hibemia, and they en-
treated the Scots that they might there abide. But they
would not permit them, for they said that they could not
all abide there together. And then the Scots said, 'We
may nevertheless give you counsel. We know another
island eastward of this, where ye may dwell, if ye will,
and if any one withstand you, we will assist you, so that
you may subdue it.' Then went the Picts, and subdued
this land northwards ; the southern part the Britons had,

INTRODUCTION

as we before have said. And the Picts obtained wives for
themselves of the Scots, on this condition, that they
should always choose their royal lineage on the woman's
side ; which they have held ever since. And then befel
it in the course of years, that some part of the Scots de-
parted from Hibemia into Britain, and conquered some
portion of the land. And their leader was called Reoda,
from whom they are named Dalreodi •."

That Britain was inhabited in pre-historic times has
been abundantly proved, by the opening of the burial-
places of people to whom the use of metals was un-
known, on the moors of Cleveland for instance ; but it
is only after the coming of the Belgae and other tribes,
in a comparatively advanced state of civilization, from
the continent of Europe that the history of our island
can be said to begin. This, the research of modem
writers has failed to carry beyond the year 57 before
the Christian era, when, as we are informed by Caesar,
Divitiacus, a Gaulish king, exercised a kind of feudal
superiority not only over the north-eastern part of mo-
dem France, but also over at least a portion of Britain.
Thus connected with the affairs of the Gauls, and in part,
as we learn from Tacitus, of kindred race, the islanders
were easily led to afford succour to them when assailed
by the Romans ; and this succour, added to the report
of pearls and other riches to be acquired, sufficed to at-
tract to Britain the legions of the conqueror.

In narrating his two campaigns, Cjesar asserts that he
was the tirst to carr\* the arms of Rome into an un-
known world, which is merely a \*ain-glorious boast that
admits of easy disproof. Four centuries before his time,
Herodotus had made mention of the Cassiterides and

« IV>f4«^l\avRtt^l|ietnW<Mrtril«4Midc4^IUft^ FVcm Insh lusto.
d* Wi* *imV «»st xWftt tiM «nk«RM w»* »*Af « tKe ««*» now caUed

Ihm «f lift fwc^Mr." IW due siY^ft tt «bottt Jcix «so^

TO THE ROMAN ERA.

their tin mines ^ ; Aristotle also alludes to them *=, and
Polybius says that in his day (260 B.C.) writers discoursed
largely on the subject.

Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, shortly after Caesar's in-
vasion, speak of the triangular form of the island, and
give some vague idea of its size ; and Ptolemy, early in
the second century of the Christian era, furnishes a table
of the positions of many of its promontories and rivers,
and of its tribes and cities ; to which Marcianus Hera-
cleota, in the third, adds further particulars of the " Pre-
tannic islands," Ibernia (Ireland) and Albion. He de-
scribes the first as containing "sixteen nations, eleven
celebrated towns, fifteen principal rivers, five remark-
able promontories, six distinguished islands ;" and the
latter, — which he says is by far the greater, not con-
tracted like other islands, but drawn out and extended
over a great part of the northern ocean, with two par-
ticularly extensive isthmuses, one greater than the other,
in the form of feet, of which the lesser stretches out to-
wards Aquitania, — has " thirty- three nations, fifty-nine
celebrated towns, forty noble rivers, fourteen lofty pro-
montories, one notable chersonesus, five spacious bays,
three commodious harbours. The whole circumnaviga-
tion of the island of Albion is not more than 28,604, nor
less than 20,526 stadia'*." At a later, but uncertain date,
the Itinerary of Antoninus supplies detailed information
as to the topography of Britain, to which some addition
may be made from the Peutingerian Table, a document
probably belonging to the fourth century, though only
known to us from a transcript of much later date.

The generally received ideas of the state of Britain at

^ The name b often confined to the ScUIy isles, but in this instance and
others it probably includes also much of the modem counties of Cornwall
and Devon.

De Mundo, c. 3 ; but the genuineness of this work has been questioned.
See Dr. Smith's Classical Diet., art. "Aristotle."

^ Equal to 3,178 and 2,280 English miles.

INTRODUCTION

the time of its invasion by the Romans, are almost ex-
clusively derived from the statements of Julius Caesar,
and it should excite no surprise to learn that many of
them are erroneous, when it is remembered that Caesar's
stay here was but brief, and that only a very small part of
the country fell under his o^ti obser\'ation. His account
is shortly, that the people on the coast where he landed
much resembled the Gauls, though they had no coinage^
but used instead brass or iron rings as money ; and that
the rest of the natives, who were reputed aborigines, were
mere savages, clad in skins, and dyeing their bodies with
woad, which gave them a terrible appearance ; they had
vast herds of cattle and lived on milk and flesh, not cul>
tivating com ; they wore long hair, but no beards ; and
they dwelt together in parties of ten or twelve, who had
wives in common *. Some of these statements are con-
firmed by Dio Cassius, (as preserved to us by Xiphi-
linus ', and Herodian »,) when speaking of the unsubdued
tribes in the time of Severus ; but others are quite con-
trary to fact. The coins of many British rulers exist **,

* This custom, which is probably to be regarded as a pure invention of
Caesar's informants, is not mentioned by Diodorus.

' Xiphilinus was a Greek monk of the eleventh century, who has left
an epitome of several of the lost books of the Roman History of Dio
Cassius, written early in the third century.

8 Herodian lived about a.d. 250, ancl wrote a valuable History of his
own times.

I* The opinion of the learned Editors of the Monumenta on this point is
thus stated (p. cli.): "The French numismatists have claimed as Gallic the
coins which are called British, though they have not made out any title to
their appropriation. It has been broadly stated that the Britons were too
barbarous to need a coinage ; but if that were the case, surely the Gauls
could have had just as little need of a metallic currency, as they were at
that time little, if at all, more advanced in civilization than their British
neighbours. It is absurd to suppose that one only of two nations, so nearly
allied to each other in religion and manners as were the Gauls and Britons,
and carrying on together an extensive commerce, should have known the
use of money. It may therefore be assumed, that if the Gauls had a me-
tallic currency before the time of Julius Caesar's invasion of this island,
which to a certainty they had, so also had the Britons. ... It must be re-
membered that there are extant coins peculiar to this island; or rather,
coins have been discovered here unlike any which are found in any other
country, such as those, for instance, which have inscriptions on tablets.
There is undoubtedly a great resemblance between some of the British and
Gallic coins ; both are thick and dished, and appear to have been rudely

TO THE ROMAN ERA. 5

some of which are of gold, and bear an ear of corn on
the reverse, thus testifying both knowledge and esteem
of agriculture, and Diodorus Siculus says, "They who
dwell near the promontory of Britain which is called
Belerium (now the Land's end,) are singularly fond, of
strangers, and from their intercourse with foreign mer-
chants, civilized in their habits." Strabo too says, "The
Cassiterides are inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad
in tunics reaching to the feet, and girt about the breast,
walking with staves, and bearded like goats." Caesar de-
scribes the inland regions as producing tin, and the mari-
time, iron ; but other writers more accurately tell us that
tin was produced near the sea shore, that it was skilfully
worked and fused by the natives, and by them conveyed
in waggons in great abundance, to "a certain island
named Ictis, lying off Britain ; for a singular circum-
stance happens with respect to the neighbouring islands
lying between Europe and Britain ; for at the high tides,
the intervening passage being flooded, they seem islands ;
but at the low tides, the sea retreating and leaving much
space dry, they appear peninsulas ;" a statement of Dio-
dorus Siculus, which is usually considered to identify
Ictis as the Mount St. Michael, in Cornwall, of our own
day. Beside tin, lead and skins are mentioned as ex-
changed with foreign merchants for earthenware, glass
beads, salt, and brazen vessels. To British exports were
afterwards added slaves and fierce hunting dogs, and in
the fourth century, if not before, wheat in large quantity.
Tacitus, in narrating the campaigns of Agricola, in-
forms us that the natives of Britain were of several dis-
tinct races, as evidenced by their differences of personal

formed after the model of the Grecian coins. . . . Camden was the first who
claimed and established a coinage for the inhabitants of his country ; he has
assigned about eighteen different types to Cunobelin, Boadicea, Carac-
tacus, &c. ; but there are as many as seventy-two other types still extant."
Many of these are figured in Evans' " Coins of the Ancient Britons," and
that writer considers that a British gold coinage existed at least a century
before the invasion of Caesar.

INTRODUCTION

appearance. The height and the yellow locks of the
people on the north-east coast shewed their German ori-
gin, while the shorter stature and swarthy complexion of
those in the west rendered it probable that they were a
colony from Iberia. To all, the praise of desperate valour
is due ; Caesar acknowledges that their horsemen and
charioteers contended vigorously with him ; and to the
last period of Roman occupation, there were numerous
tribes that had never been subdued. Xiphilinus describes
(from their contemporary, Dio Cassius) the state of these
about the close of the second century of the Christian era.

" The Maeatse and the Caledonians inhabit mountains
wild and waterless, and plains desert and marshy, having
neither walls nor cities nor tilth, but living by pastur-
age, by the chase, and on certain berries ; for of their
fish, thou^ abundant and inexhaustible, they never taste.
They live in tents naked and bare-footed, having wives
in common, and rearing the whole of their progeny.
Their state is chiefly democratical, and they are above
all things delighted by pillage ; they fight from chariots,
having small swift horses ; they fight also on foot, are
very fleet when running, and most resolute when com-
pelled to stand ; their arms consist of a shield and a
short spear, having a brazen knob at the extremity of
the shaft, that when shaken it may terrify the enemy by
its noise ; they use daggers also ; they are capable of en-
during hunger, thirst, and hardships of every description ;
for when plunged in the marshes they abide there many
days with their heads only out of water ; and in the woods
they subsist on bark and roots ; they prepare for all
emergencies a certain kind of food, of which if they eat
only so much as the size of a bean they neither hunger
nor thirst. Such then is the island of Britannia, and such
the inhabitants of that part of it which is hostile to us.*'

Herodian gives a very similar account, and adds,
" They encircle their loins and necks with iron, deem-

TO THE ROMAN ERA.

ing this an ornament and mark of opulence, in like
manner as other barbarians esteem gold. They punc-
ture their bodies with pictured forms of every sort of
animals, on which account they wear no clothing, lest
they should hide the figures on their body."

The kingly form of government prevailed among the
Britons before the coming of Caesar, — and it was con-
tinued long after, though in subordination to the Roman
governors, — but the most influential persons among them
were the Druids. These men, Caesar informs us, were
the depositories of all the learning of the Britons, and
they had numerous schools where they taught "many
things respecting the stars and their motion, respect-
ing the extent of the world and of our earth, respect-
ing the nature of things, respecting the power and the
majesty of the immortal gods." These doctrines were
supposed to have originated in Britain, and in Caesar's
time those Gauls who wished to study them visited our
island for the purpose.

But the Druids were not merely teachers. On the
contrary, they were rulers, who imposed ordinances on
all classes, and enforced them by terrible penalties ; they
were the arbiters of peace and war ; they had sacred
groves and rude stone temples, in which they offered
human sacrifices ; and so powerful was their influence
over their countrymen, that the Romans forsook their
usual policy of leaving untouched the superstitions and
priesthoods of conquered nations, and laboured zealously
to destroy both the priests and the altars of Britain.
Tacitus gives a lively account of the assault for this pur-
pose on the stronghold of Druidism (a.d. 6i).

Suetonius "prepared to fall upon Mona (Anglesey*),
a country powerful in inhabitants, and a common place
of refuge to the revolters and fugitives ; he built, for that

* The name Mona is often given to the Isle of Man, but it is certain that
Anglesey is meant in this instance.

8 INTRODUCTION

end, boats with broad flat bottoms, the easier to approach
a shore full of shallows and uncertain landings ; in these
the foot were embarked ; the horse followed, partly by
fording, partly by swimming.

"On the opposite shore stood the enemy's army, in
thick array compact with men and arms ; amongst them
were women running frantically every where, to and fro,
representing the wild manner and transports of furies ;
dismally clad in funeral apparel, with their hair dis-
hevelled and torches in their hands ; round the host
also appeared their priests the Druids, with their hands
lifted up to heaven, uttering direful imprecations, and
invoking celestial vengeance ; insomuch, that at the
amazing novelty of the spectacle, the spirit of the Ro-
man soldiers was struck with dismay; and, as if all
their limbs had been benumbed, they stood motionless,
their bodies exposed, like fixed marks, to wounds and
darts ; till, by the repeated exhortations of the general,
as well as by mutual incitements from one another, they
were at last roused to shake off the scandalous terror
inspired by a band of raving women and fanatic priests ;
and thus advancing their ensigns, they discomfited all
that.resisted, and involved them in their own fires."

The aboriginal Britons are described as dwelling in
slight cabins of reeds and wattles, and in some instances
in caverns in the earth, many sets of which, arranged
with some degree of symmetry, antiquaries have re-
cognized, in various parts of the country ; but Caesar
tells us that the maritime tribes had buildings in the
fashion of the Gauls, that is, of wood, of a circular
figure, and thatched. They had, however, public edi-
fices for the purposes of religion, of which we have
an example in the stupendous fabric of Stonehenge^.

J The cromlechs which are found in various parts of our island were
formerly regarded as temples, but recent investigation has convinced the

TO THE ROMAN ERA.

Such of their towns as came under his observation
were clusters of huts erected on a cleared portion of
the forests which covered the greater part of the island,
and they were invariably surrounded by a rampart con-
structed of felled trees strongly interlaced and wattled,
and a deep foss, which together constituted a, fortification
that we may believe even the veteran legionaries often
found it difficult to storm. The site of the modern
city of London, with the river Thames in front, the
river Fleet on the west, and an almost impenetrable
forest in the rear, may be taken as a fair specimen of
the nature of the locality usually selected for the resi-
dence of a British chief.

At the time that the Roman supremacy had its greatest
extent, we distinguish the two great districts of Brit-
annia Superior and Inferior (in a general way, England
and Wales, and Scotland) divided into the five provinces
of Britannia Prima, Britannia Secunda, Flavia Caesari-
ensis, Maxima Caesariensis, and Valentia.

1. Britannia' Prima contained the country south of
the Thames and the Severn, and, proceeding westward,
we find tribes known to us by their Romanized names
of the Cantii, Regni, Belgae, Atrebates, Durotriges, and
Dumnonii.

2. Britannia Secunda may be called Wales, and con-
tained the Silures in the south and south-east, the De-
metae on the western coast, and the Ordovices in the
north.

3. Flavia Ccesariensis^ the country between the Thames,
the Severn and the H umber, contained the Trinobantes
in the south, north of them the Catyeuchlani and Iceni,
and in the central and western parts the Dobuni, Cori-
tavi, and Cornavii.

?enerality of antiquaries that they are in reality sepulchral monuments.
>ne of the finest examples is the double cromlech at Plas Newydd, in
Anglesey, figured at the head of this Introduction*

lO INTRODUCTION

4. Maxima Ccesariensis^ between the H umber and the
Tyne, contained the Parisii on the Yorkshire coast,
and the Brigantes, who occupied the rest of the north
of England.

5. Valentia^ between the Tyne and the Frith of Forth,
was occupied by the Ottadeni on the east coast, the
Gadeni in the centre, and the Selgovae, Novantae, and
Damnii to the west and north. This province contained
the Roman walls known as, (i) the Wall of Agricola (or
of LoUius Urbicus, or Antoninus, from its restorers),
which was the most northern, and (2) the Wall of Ha-
drian, to the south ; this last being re-edified in the
third century, or rather replaced by a wall of stone, the
new structure is commonly spoken of as (3) the Wall of
Severus ^, A wall, or rather chain of forts, also existed
in the central part of the country, stretching from the
Nen to the Severn ; few traces of this remain, but of
the other walls most of the stations have been iden-
tified, and many portions are still in a good state of
preservation.

Beside these walls strong fortresses were erected in
many places, particularly on the coast, of which the re-
mains at Burgh castle, in Suffolk, Reculver, Richborough
and Lympne, in Kent, and near Pevensey, in Sussex
(probably Anderida), are especially interesting.

^ This wall has been closely investigated by antiquaries, and its whole
course satisfactorily traced. From the researches of Dr. Collingwood Bruce
in particular, we learn that the wall was about 73 miles long and probably
20 feet high. It had a deep ditch on its northern front, and on its southern
side a triple rampart of earth and stones, with foss, ran parallel to it, at a
distance generally of 60 or 80 yards. The included space was traversed by
a military road along which were disposed nearly twenty Stationes (perma-
nent camps), linked together by Castella at less than a Roman mile distant,
and these connected by watch-towers, ("little more than stone sentry-
boxes," says Dr. Bruce,) within hail of each other. Even in its present
state the Wall is one of the most remarkable works in Europe, ana it fur-
nishes a proof of the difficulty with which the Romans mamtained their
position in the north of England. It is in fact one vast intrenched camp
from^ end to end, and seems to have been intended as much to meet
a rising of the tribes to the south as to guard against an invasion from
the north.

TO THE ROMAN ERA. II

Our early historians mention four great roads by which
South Britain was traversed, and these have usually been
considered the work of its conquerors, but recent re-
search has led to the conclusion that the Romans only
kept in repair, and perhaps improved, the roads which
they found in use on their settlement in the island.
These great roads, under their modem names, are, the
Watling Street, the Hermin Street, the Foss Way, and
the Ikenild Street*, and along their course, or in their
immediate vicinity, are found the principal towns which,
in pursuance of their usual policy, the Romans either
founded or re-edified, and to which, according to the
privileges bestowed, the various names were given of
colonies, municipalities, stipendiary, and Latian cities ".

Many other Roman roads exist, one of which stretches
beyond the Wall of Agricola to the foot of the Grampians,
and a Roman camp is found near the mouth of the Spey,
on the Murray Frith, which may probably be taken as
the most advanced post of the Imperial rule. The
names of several tribes beyond the Roman limits occur
in Ptolemy and other writers, but before the t^e of
Severus they appear to have, been all merged in the
general appellations of Caledonians and Maeatae, as these
in their turn in after days are known only as Picts
and Scots.

' Th'e courses usually ascribed to these highways are, the Watling Street
from Kent to Cardigan Bay ; the Hermin Street from St. David's to South-
ampton ; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincoln ; and the Ikenild Street
from St. David's to Tynemouth. There appears reasons for supposing that
these statements are incorrect, and that tne Watling Street extended from
Kent to the Frith of Forth ; the Hermin Street from the Sussex coast to
the Humber ; the Foss Way from Cornwall to Lincolnshire ; and the
Ikenild Street from Caister to Dorchester.

"° There have been identified among the colonies (using modem names),
Bath, Cambridge, Caerleon, Chester, Colchester, Gloucester, Lincoln,
London, and Richborough ; among the municipia, St. Alban's and York ;
among the Latian cities, Carlisle, Cirencester, Dumbarton, Old Sarum ;
and among the stipendiariae, Canterbury, Dorchester, Exeter, Leicester,
Rochester and Winchester. A much longer list is given in " De Situ
Britanniae," a book ascribed to Richard of Cirencester, but that this is
a forgery of the last century, has been conclusively shewn by Mr. Mayor,
in his preface to Richard's genuine work, " Speculum Historiale."

12 INTRODUCTION

The towns, and forts, and roads, already enumerated,
are, however, very far from being the only traces of
Roman occupation that remain in our country. Camps, .
occupying well-chosen positions, occur in numbers which
attest the difficulty with which the subjugation of the
island was accomplished ; while the remains of stately
buildings, ornamented with baths, tessellated pavements,
fresco paintings and statuary, and articles of personal
ornament, which are discovered almost every time that
the earth is disturbed to any considerable depth, prove
the eventual wide diffiision of the elegant and luxurious
mode of life which it was the aim of the conquerors to
introduce ".

Roman glass and pottery, in great variety, and fre-
quently of most elegant shape, abounds, but the most
valuable are the sepulchral urns, which betoken the
neighbourhood of towns of which perhaps no other
traces now remain.

When first conquered, Britain was considered so im- •
portant, that it was made a province of the Roman
empire, and was governed by an officer of high rank,
who was called the propraetor, and vicegerent of the
emperor. The five departments, as they may be termed,
(Britannia Prima, &c.,) had each a president, and there
was a large establishment of subordinates, the names
and offices of many of whom have been preserved to
us by inscriptions. Afterwards, but at a date that is
somewhat uncertain, Britain was reduced to a depend-
ence on the prefect of Gaul, and the resident governor
was then termed only vicar (or lieutenant). In pursu-
ance of their ordinary policy, which made each con-
quered nation assist in keeping down the rest, the
Romans sent the British youth in large numbers to

" Upwards of one hundred Roman villas have been discovered, mainly
in the south and west of England. Many of them contain pavements of
extreme beauty, as those at Bignor, in Sussex, and at Woodchester, near
Stroud, in Gloucestershire.

TO THE ROMAN ERA. 1 3

garrison distant countries, and brought to Britain Gauls,
Germans, Spaniards, Thracians and others as auxiliaries
to the two (sometimes three) legions, that were deemed
necessary to hold it. The ordinary amount of their mili-
tary force is estimated at 30,000 foot and 6,000 horse,
and they had a reserve in the veterans on whom they
bestowed lands instead of pensions, and who with their
families formed the bulk of the population in the towns
that were style4 colonies.

Independently of a rather doubtful passage in Gildas,
there seems sufficient ground for the belief that the light
of Christianity was diffused in our island as early as the
apostolic age. Clement of Rome says that St. Paul car-
ried the Gospel to the extreme bounds of the West,
a phrase used by other writers where Britain is unques-
tionably intended ; St. Peter, St. Joseph of Arimathea °,
Aristobulus, and others, are also named, but with less
probability, as agents in the conversion of Britain. The
British Church is often spoken of by writers of the third
and succeeding centuries ; although, from the destruction
of documents, no list of sees can be given on anything
more than conjecture, and no names of British prelates
have come down to us preceding those of the signers of the
decrees of the council of Aries (a.d. 314). The Christian
population of Britain, evidently numerous at the time of
the Diocletian persecution, appears to have steadily in-
creased, and when the Romans withdrew from the island
they left behind them a people professing the truths of
the Gospel, but corrupting them by the rash and dan-
gerous speculations of the Pelagian and other heresies,
and soon to be driven into the more remote quarters
of the country, where their faith, purified by affliction,

o This was fully believed in the middle ages ; and we find that Edward
III. granted a licence dated June 10, 1^45, allowing John Blome, of London,
to search for the body of St. Joseph m the abbey of Glastonbury, about
which, it says, he had received a divine revelation. The result is not re-
corded.

14 IVTRODUCnOX.

shone more brightly than it had done in the dairs of
their prosperity. The>' were visited by many holy persons
from Ireland, •''which had early received the Gospd, and
had as yet escaped the ravages of the northern nations.)
such as St. Pi ran, St. la, St. Gw)thian, and others, who,
inflamed by missionar}' zeal, in the fifth and sixth cen-
turies, proceeded to the coast of Cornwall, and have
left numerous memorials of their labours, not only in
the names of villages, but in the sculptured crosses
and humble oratories still found there ^ To this period,
prior to the coming of Augustine, also belongs the origin
of the Welsh sees % which, as they gathered the scattered
sheep to the fold, may be regarded as the living repre-
sentatives of the Churches planted among us in the very
earliest age of Christianity.

p One of the most interesting of these is the church of St. Piran, near
St. Ives, which, after being for ages buried in the sand, (hence the name
of the hamlet, Perran-zabuloe,) was brought to li^ht by its removal in 1835.
It is of very small size (about 30 feet by 16) and simple architecture.

1 Cacrleon is by some writers said to have been founded in the Roman
period, and Llandaflf to have been established by King Lucius ; but these
arc mere traditions, and the succession of bishops cannot be traced higher
than to iJubritius, who apparently held both sees, and is said to have died
A.ij. 533. Kcntigcm of St. Asaph and Daniel of Bangor, the first bishops
there, lived somewhat later.

Nj^V^.

Roman Sepulchral TTrns.

Bnus CdIc of Sareroa.

THE ROMAN ERA.

PERIOD OF ROMAN INVASION.
B.C. S7.-A.D. Sll,
B.C. ST, DiviTiACUs, king of the Suessones (in north-
eastern Gaul), has the supremacy in Britain.

B.C, S6, The VeneCi ■ obtain assistance from the Britons
against the Romans.

B.C. SB. Caius Julius C^^sar prepares for an expedi-
tion into Britain.

The Britons, hearing of his preparations, dispatch
ambassadors to Csesar, who sends them back accom-
panied by Commius, king of the Atrebaies''.

Commius, counselling submission, is imprisoned by
the Britons.

Caius Volusenus is sent to the coast of Britain to an-
nounce the coming of Csesar and procure information, but
returns on the fifth day without having ventured to land.
Caesar sails from Gessoriacum (now Boulogne), at
midnight of August 26, and effects a landing after a
severe contest near the South Foreland, August 27. His

•' Hie AlRbalB inhabiied
pannicnl Pas de Calais : on i
appointed Ibeir Kuia. Thei
cfBriuin.

lorthem Gaul, in Ailois.
leir subjection by the Ri
i was =to a -^■- -' -

if Atiebaus in Ibe si

1 8 THE ROMAN ERA. [B.C. 44 —

withdrawal of Caesar, and only recommences with the
preparations of Augustus for a fresh invasion about 20
years after ; but the want is partially supplied by the
information afforded by coins that have been discovered.
From these we learn the names of several British princes
in the interval, of whom the one with the widest rule
appears to have been Tasciovanus. He governed the
central and the eastern districts ; and it is conjectured
that his son was Cunobelin, whose capital occupied the
site on which was afterwards planted the Roman colony
of Camulodunum (Colchester).

The coins of these rulers are of gold, and both in
their devices and style of art evidence a degree of civi-
lization very unlike what might be expected if Caesar's
description of Britain were considered to apply to the
whole country, instead of being restricted to the small
part that fell under his personal observation.

B.C. 34. Augustus proceeds to Gaul with the view of
invading Britain, but is stopped by a revolt of some of
the Gaulish tribes.

B.C. 26. Augustus having resumed his preparations,
the Britons send him ambassadors and tribute.

A.D. 1. The received commencement ofthe Christian era*.

A.D. 14. Augustus dies, August 19. He is succeeded
by Tiberius.

A.D. 16. Some Roman soldiers, shipwrecked on the
shore of Britain, are protected and sent back by the
chiefs.

A.D. 32. Our Lord is crucified.

A.D. 37. Death of Tiberius, March 26. Caligula suc-
ceeds.

A.D. 40. Caligula, prevailed on by a fugitive Briton',

* According to the ordinary computation. Ussher and other writers place
the birth of Our Lord four years earlier.

' Tliis man's name is variously given : Adminius, son of Cinobellinus,
king of Britain, by Suetonius, and Minocynobellinus, son of the king of
the Britons, by Paulus Orosius> a much later writer.

A.D. 47'] THE ROMAN ERA. 1 9

prepares to invade the island, but proceeds no further
than the coast of Gaul.

" Caius, arriving at the ocean," says Dio Cassius,
" as though intending to war in Britain, and drawing up
all his troops along the beach, went on board a trireme,
and having launched out a little distance from the land,
returned again. And shortly after this, sitting on a lofty
throne, and giving a signal to the soldiers as if for battle,
and exciting them by his trumpeters, he then suddenly
ordered them to gather up sea shells. And having taken
such booty, for it would seem that he wanted spoils for
the pomp of triumphal honours, he was as highly elated
as though he had subdued the very ocean, gave consider-
able largesses to his soldiers, and carried these shells to
Rome that he might exhibit his spoils to the citizens."

A.D. 41. Caligula is assassinated, January 24. CLAUDIUS
succeeds.

A.D. 43. Bericus, a fugitive whose surrender had been
demanded, persuades Claudius to undertake the conquest
of Britain.

Aulus Plautius invades the island, and defeats the
Britons.

Vespasian (afterwards emperor) sent to Britain.

Claudius visits the island, captures the principal
town of Cunobelin, (afterwards Camulodunum, now Col-
chester, in Essex,) and after sixteen days' residence ia
Britain returns to Rome.

A.D. 44. Claudius celebrates the "conquest of Britain"
by a triumph at Rome, and, with his son, assumes the
surname of Britannicus.

A.D. 47. Aulus Plautius and Vespasian reduce the
southern part of Britain, and obtain tribute from the
more distant tribes 8^c

B The Orcades were among the number, according to Eutropius (a com-
paratively late writer), but Tacitus asserts on the contrary that they were,
first discovered and subjugated by Agricola. See a.d. 84.

20 THE ROMAN ERA. [A.D. 47—

The Picts are subdued.

Apocryphal date of the martyrdom of Simon Zelotes
in Britain *'.

A.D. 60. Ostorius Scapula extends the conquests of his
predecessors, builds a chain of forts between the rivers
Nen and Severn, ravages both the west and the north \
and defeats Caractacus, the king of the Silures ^,

Caractacus is treacherously delivered up to the Ro-
mans, but being sent to the emperor is by him set at
liberty.

Ostorius is unsuccessful against the Silures, and dies.
Valens and a Roman legion defeated by the Silures.
A.D. 51. Aulus Didius sent to command in Britain.
Venusius, at the head of the Brigantes, maintains
the war.
A.D. 64. Claudius dies, Oct. 13. Nero succeeds.
A.D. 67. Veranius succeeds Aulus Didius as propraetor,
but dies shortly after.

A.D. 68. Suetonius Paulinus sent to govern Britain ;
Agricola serves under him.

A.D. 61. The Britons, oppressed by Catus Decianus,
the procurator, and by Seneca ^, revolt.

Boudicea, the widow of Prasutagus, king of the
Iceni, heads the Britons.

Xiphilinus, after recounting certain prodigies by
which he says this event was heralded, adds, " She,
however, who chiefly excited and urged them to fight

•» Given in the spurious SynoJ>sis of Dorotheus, a 6th century production.

' The country of the Cangii and the Brigantes, now Somersetshire and
Yorkshire, and the more normem counties.

^ The people of South Wales, Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire. Ca-
ractacus IS believed to have been a son of Cunobelin, driven out from Essex
by the Romans, and then chosen as their leader by the Silures. Welsh tra-
dition, however, claims him for a Silurian, and ascribes to his father Bran
the introduction of Christianity into Britain, he having been carried prisoner
with his son to Rome, and there converted by the preaching of St. Paul.

I " Seneca, having lent them, against their will, a thousand myriads of
money in expectation of interest, suddenly and violently called in his loan."
(Xiphilinus.) There seems little doubt that this was Lucius Annsus
Seneca, the philosopher, who was put to death by Nero in the year fol-
lowing this revolt.

A.D. 6 1.] THE ROMAN ERA. 21

against the Romans was Bunduica, who was deemed
worthy to command them, and who led them in every
battle ; a Briton of royal race, and breathing more than
female spirit. Having collected, therefore, an army to
the number of about 120,000, she, after the Roman
custom, ascended a tribunal made of marshy earth. She
was of the largest size, most terrible of aspect, most
savage of countenance, and harsh of voice : having a
profusion of yellow hair which fell down to her hips,
and wearing a large golden collar ; she had on a parti-
coloured floating vest drawn close about her bosom, and
over this she wore a thick mantle connected by a clasp.
Such was her usual dress ; but at this time she also
bore a spear, that thus she might appear more formid-
able to all, and she spake after this manner," &c. The
speech, beside being imaginary, is too long for quota-
tion. " Having thus harangued, Bunduica led her army
against the Romans, who were at that time without
a chief, because Paulinus, then commander, was warring
against Mona."

Verulamium, Camulodunum, and other Roman posts,
captured, and a great slaughter made of the Romans
and their allies.

Suetonius reduces Mona (Anglesey) •", but is recalled
by the news of the revolt.

Londinium (London), already, according to Tacitus,
"famed for the vast conflux of traders, and her abun-
dant commerce and plenty," destroyed by the Britons.

Petilius Cerealis and the Ninth Legion routed.

Catus Decianus escapes to Gaul.

The Britons are defeated with terrible slaughter near
Londinium by Suetonius.

Boudicea dies ", and the Britons abandon the contest.

« See p. 7. ,

" She commited suicide according to Tacitus ; but according to Die
Cassias she died a natural death, and was interred with great funereal
splendour.

22 THE ROMAN ERA. [A.D. 62—

A.D. 62. Suetonius recalled, and succeeded by Petro-
nius Turpilianus.

A.D. 65. Trebellius Maximus is propraetor in Britain.

Apocryphal date of St. Peter's visit to Britain ^,
A.D. 67. Aristobulus, one of the seventy disciples, said
to have died in Britain p.

A.D. 68. Nero put to deaths June 9. He is succeeded
by Galba.

A.D. 69. Galba is killed, January 16. Otho succeeds,
and Vitellius also is chosen emperor ; great dissension
among tjie Roman legions in Britain in consequence.
Venusius again heads the Britons.
Trebellius Maximus, the Roman lieutenant, abandons
his post;

Vettius Bolanus sent as lieutenant to Britain by
Vitellius.

Agricola succeeds to the military command.
Vespasian becomes emperor.
A.D. 70. Petrlius Cerealis, lieutenant in Britain ; Agri-
cola serves under him, and the Fourteenth Legion is
designated the " Conquerors of Britain."
A.D. 76. Julius Frontinus, propraetor in Britain.
A.D. 78. Agricola appointed to the command. In his
first campaign he conquers Mona.

A.D. 79. Vespasian dies, June 24. He is succeeded
by Titus.

Agricola's second campaign. He overruns the whole
country, and induces many of the chiefs to give hostages
and to allow their sons to receive a Roman education.

** To the end," says Tacitus, " that these people, thus
wild and dispersed over the country, and thence easily
instigated to war, might by a taste of pleasures be re-
conciled to inactivity and repose, he first privately ex-
horted them, then publicly assisted them, to build temples,

» According to Simeon Metaphrastes, loth cent,
p Synopsis Dorothei. 6th cent.

A.D, 82.] THE ROMAN ERA. 23

houses, and places of assembling. Upon such as were
willing and assiduous in these pursuits he heaped com-
mendations, and reproofs upon the lifeless and slow;
so that a competition for this distinction and honour
had all the force of necessity. He was already taking
care to have the sons of their chiefs taught the liberal
sciences, preferring the natural capacity of the Britons
to the studied acquirements of the Gauls ; and such was
his success, that they who had lately scorned to learn
the Roman language, were become fond of acquiring
the Roman eloquence. Thus they began to honour our
apparel, and the use of the Roman gown grew fre-
quent among them. By degrees they proceeded to the
incitements and charms of vice and dissoluteness, to
magnificent galleries, sumptuous baths, and all the sti-
mulations and elegance of banqueting: Nay, all this
innovation was by the inexperienced styled politeness
and humanity, when it was indeed part of th^ir bondage."

A.D. 80. Agricola's third campaign, in which he ad-
vances as far as Tava (the Frith of Tay).

A.D. 81. Agricola's fourth campaign. He builds a chain
of forts between Clota and Bodotria (the Friths of Clyde
and Forth).

Titus dies, September 13, and is succeeded by Do-
mitian.

A.D. 82. Agricola's fifth campaign, in which he visits
the north-western coast of Britain : a fugitive chief from
leme (Ireland) is received by him.

" Agricola," says Tacitus, " placed forces in that part
of Britain which fronts Ireland, more from future views
than from any present fear. In truth, Ireland, as it
lies just between Britain and Spain, and is capable of
an easy communication with the coast of Gaul, would
have proved of infinite use in linking together these
limbs of the empire. In size it is inferior to Britain,
but surpasses the islands in our sea. In soil and cli-

24 THE ROMAN ERA. [A.D. 82 —

mate, as also in the temper and manners of the natives,
it varies little from Britain. Its ports and landings
are better known, through the frequency of commerce
and merchants."

A.D. 83. Agricola's sixth campaign, beyond the Frith
of Forth.

The Caledonians attack the Romans, but are de-
feated.

A cohort of Germans, attempting to desert, sail
round the extremity of the island, are wrecked, and
sold into slavery.

A.D. 84. Agricola's seventh campaign, in which he de-
feats the Caledonians under Galgacus.

The Horesti *» obliged to give hostages.
Agricola sails round Britain, and discovers the Or-
cades, according to Tacitus.

A triumph is decreed to Agricola, who resigns his
command.

A.D. 86. Sallustius LucuUus, propraetor in Britain, killed
by order of Domitian.

A.D. 86. Arviragus heads a revolt against the Romans.

A.D. 96. Domitian is killed, September 18. Nerva
succeeds.

A.B. 98. Nerva dies, January 21. He is succeeded
by Trajan.

A.D. 106. Neratius Marcellus praefect in Britain.

A.D. 117. Trajan dies about August 10. Hadrian suc-
ceeds.

The Britons endeavour to throw off the Roman yoke.

A.D. 120. Hadrian visits Britain.

A.D. 121. Hadrian builds a wall from Tinna to Ituna
(the Tyne and Solway Frith), to separate the Roman
province from the unsubdued tribes'; now known as
the Picts' Wall.

A.D. 124. Aulus Platorius Nepos, propraetor.

« A tribe on the north of the Frith of Tay. ' See p. 10.

A.D. l85.] THE ROMAN ERA. 2$

A.D. 130. Maenius Agrippa, praefect of the fleet on the
British shore.

A.D. 133. Licinius Italicus, propraetor.

A.D. 138. Hadrian dies, July lo. He is succeeded
by Antoninus.

The Brigantes despoiled of great part of their land.

A.D. 139, LoUius Urbicus, propraetor, constructs a ram-
part between the Forth and Clyde, on the site of the
forts of Agricola ; now known as Graham's Dyke ".

A.D. 140. Valerius Pansa, proconsul ; Seius Satuminus,
praefect of the fleet.

A.D. 161. Antoninus dies, March 7. He is succeeded by
Marcus Aurelius, who takes for his colleague Lucius Verus.

A.D. 162. Calphurnius Agricola, in consequence of
a threatened revolt is sent to Britain as lieutenant.

AD. 169. Lucius Verus dies, about the end of the year.

A.D. 178. (circa). Lucius, king of the Britons*, sends
an embassy to Pope Eleutherus on religious affairs.

A.D. 180. Marcus Aurelius dies, March 17 ; is succeeded
by Conmiodus.

A.D. 181. The northern Britons pass the rampart, and
kill a Roman general. They are defeated by Ulpius
Marcellus, sent by Commodus against them.

A.D. 183. Ulpius Marcellus concludes the war.

A.D. 184. Commodus takes in consequence the title
of Britannicus.

A.D. 186. The troops in Britain rise in mutiny, and
Perennis, praetorian praefect, is slain, as the enemy of
the soldiers.

• Also called the Wall of Antoninus, in honour of the reigning emperor.^

* This title is given him by Nennius, who also informs . us that his native
name was Lever-maur (Great Light). Nennius ascribes the transaction to
the year 164, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to 167. Archbishop Ussher
has collected from various sources no fewer than twenty-three different
dates, ranging from 137 to 199, to which it has been referred ; that given
in the text is the one esteemed the most probable, but some writers consider
the whole apocryphal. Lucius is traditionally said to have founded several
bishops' sees, as at London and Llandaff. A brass plate in the church of
St. Peter, Comhill, London, professes to i>oint out his place of sepulture.

26 THE ROMAN ERA, [A.D. 1 87 —

A.D. 187. Helvius Pertinax quells the revolt.

A.D. 192. Clodius Albinus, the commander of the Ro-
man forces in Britain, is suspected by the emperor, and
a successor named.

Death of Commodus, December 31.

A.D. 193. Severus becomes emperor, after the deaths
of Pertinax and Didius ; he confers the title of Caesar
on Albinus, who has possession of Britain.
Albinus is proclaimed emperor in Gaul.

A.D. 196. Virius Lupus, propraetor.

A.D. 197. Albinus who had crossed into Gaul, is de-
feated and killed by Severus, near Lugdunum (Lyons).

The account given by Herodian of this, the first
recorded battle fought by a British army on the con-
tinent, may be interesting.

''When the army of Sevenis had arrived in Gaul,
there was some skirmishing in different places ; but the
decisive battle was near Lugdunum, a great and opulent
city, in which having shut himself up, Albinus remained,
but sent forth his forces to the fight. A severe conflict
ensuing, the fate of victory on either side for a long
time continued dubious ; for the Britons yield nothing
either in courage or sanguinary spirit to the lUyrians.
Such noble armies, therefore, encountering, the over-
throw of neither was easy ; and, as some of the his-
torians of that time who write for truth's sake and not
for favour relate, that division of Albinus's army to which
Severus with his army was opposed, had greatly the ad-
vantage ; insomuch that he was put to flight, fell from his
horse, and threw off his imperial robe to conceal himself.
" The Britons now pursuing, and shouting as though
already victorious, they say that Laetus, one of Severus's
commanders, came in sight with the army he com-
manded fresh and untouched from not having yet been
in action. . . . Severus's party took courage, placed him
on his horse, and again clad him in his imperial robe.

A.D. 209-] THE ROMAN ERA. 2/

Albinus's troops supposing themselves already victorious,
and, in consequence, having their ranks somewhat dis-
ordered, when this noble and fresh army fell suddenly
upon them, gave way after but little resistance. A des-
perate rout ensuing, the soldiers of Severus pursued,
and slew them until they threw themselves into the
city. The number of the slain and captive on either
side is differently recorded, as the inclination of the
several historians of those times dictated.

"Severus's army having plundered and burnt the
city Lugdunum, and captured Albinus, they cut off his
head, and brought it to Severus. . . . Such was the end
of Albinus, who for a little time had partaken of honours
which led to his own destruction."

A.D. 201. Virius Lupus purchases peace from the Meatae",
who had joined the Caledonians.

A.D. 204. Southern Britain, now considered as con-
quered, is by the emperor's order divided into two pro-
vinces ; Virius Lupus being still propraetor.

A.D. 206 or 206. Alfenus Senecio appointed propraetor.

A.D. 207. The wall of Severus in progress of construction'.
An insurrection of the Britons. The propraetor re-
quests further forces or the presence of the emperor.

A.D. 208. Severus repairs to Britain.

A.B. 209. Severus, leaving Geta, his younger son, in
the southern part of Britain, advances into Caledonia,
refuses all treaty with the natives, and subdues them ^,
not, however, without severe loss to his army.

" Severus," says Xiphilinus, " advanced into Cale-
donia, and in traversing the country underwent inde-
scribable labour in cutting down woods, levelling hills,

« The Meatae occupied the country in the immediate neighbourhood of
the Wall of Antoninus. See a. d. 139.

^ This, which was merely a strengthening of the Wall of Hadrian, is an
evidence of the unconquered spirit of the Britons, and is not to be taken
as indicating any advance of the Roman power, which on the contriiry was
giving way, as is shewn by the conduct of Virius Lupus, a.d. 201.

" See Coin, p. 15.

28 THE ROMAN ERA. {a.D. 209 —

making marshes passable, and constructing bridges over
rivers : for he fought not a single battle, nor did he see
any army in array. The enemy moreover threw sheep
and oxen in our track, on purpose that the soldiers
might seize them, and thus being enticed farther onward,
might be worn out by their sufferings. From the waters
too they suffered dreadfully, and ambuscades were laid
for them when dispersed. And if no longer able to
proceed they were dispatched by their very comrades
lest they should be taken : so that by this means 50,000
of them perished."
A.D. 210. The wall of Severus finished.

Severus assumes the surname of Britannicus.

Caracalla, the emperor's son, attempts his father's life,

PERIOD OF ROMAN OCCUPATION.

A.D. 210—418.

A.D. 211. Death of Severus at Eboracum (York), Feb-
ruary 4. His sons Caracalla and Geta succeed him.

Caracalla appoints Papianus praefect of Britain, makes
a treaty with the natives, and leaves the island.

Very slight mention is made of Britain by historians
for a period of more than 60 years after this time. The
names of a few of its governors (given hereafter) have
been preserved to us by inscriptions, but nothing is
certainly known of the part taken by them, or by the
legions in Britain, in the struggles which for the greater
part of the time convulsed almost every other part of
the empire, where aspirants to the purple rose and fell
in rapid succession. It is probable that the governors
were in reality almost independent ; and it is not till
the year 276 that any act of sovereignty over Britain is
ascribed to a Roman emperor.

A.D. 212. Geta is put to death, February 17.

A.D. 217. Caracalla assassinated, April 8. Macrinus
succeeds.

A.D. 273] THE ROMAN ERA. 29

A.I). 218. Macrinus killed, June 8. He is succeeded
by Heliogabalus.

A.D. 219. M. D. Junius, propraetor.

A.D. 221. Marius Valerianus, propraetor.

A.D. 222. Heliogabalus killed, March 11. Alexander
Severus succeeds.

A.D. 235. Alexander Severus assassinated, March 19.
Maximinus succeeds.

A.D. 238. Claudius Paulinus, propraetor.

Maximinus assassinated, in March. Gordian the
Younger succeeds.

A.D. 240. Gn. Lucilianus, propraetor.

A.B. 244. Gordian assassinated, in March. Philip suc-
ceeds, and takes his son as colleague.

A.D. 249. Philip and his son slain, in October. Decius
proclaimed emperor.

A.D. 261. Decius dies, in November. He is succeeded
by Gallus Hostilianus.

A.D. 252. Volusianus associated to the empire.

A.D. 253. Gallus and Volusianus slain, in May. Vale-
rian and Gallienus emperors.

A.D. 255. Desticius Juba, propraetor.

A.D. 260. Valerian being taJcen by Sapor, Gallienus
becomes sole emperor.

A.D. 267. Gallienus assassinated, March 20. Claudius
becomes emperor.

A.D. 270. Claudius dies of the plague, in May. Aurelian
succeeds.

A.D. 273. Constantius Chlorus (afterwards emperor)
marries Helena, a British princess*. Their son Con-
stantine is bom ^ Feb. 27, 274.

« She is said by Henry of Huntingdon to have been the daughter of
Coel, whom he styles king of Colecestre (Colchester) ; William of Malmes-
bury, on what ground is unknown, asserts that she was a tender of cattle
(stabularia).

7 His birth is placed by^ many early writers in Britain ; but it really oc-
curred at Naissus, in Moesia.

30 THE ROMAN ERA. [a.D. 275 —

A.D. 276. Aurelian assassinated, in January. Tacitus
succeeds.

A.B. 276. Tacitus assassinated, in April. His brother
Florianus holds the empire for 83 days, ruling in Britain
among other countries.

Florianus is killed, in July. Probus succeeds.
A revolt in Britain quelled by Victorinus, a Moor.

A.B. 277. Probus having conquered the Burgundians
and Vandals, settles colonies of them in the eastern
part of Britain.

A J). 282. Probus is slain, in November. He is suc-
ceeded by Cams, who associates his sons Carinus and
Numerianus, assigning Britain to the former.

A.D. 283. Cams dies, in December.

A.D. 284. Numerianus is killed, in September. Dio-
cletian chosen emperor.

AJ). 285. Carinus is killed.

A.B. 286. Maximian is associated in the empire with
Diocletian.

The Franks and Saxons infest the coast of Gaul.
Carausius, a Menapian*, to whom the command of a
fleet against them had been intrusted, being suspected
of conniving at their ravages, is ordered to be put to
death. He retires to Britain, taking the fleet with him,
and assumes the purple.

A.D. 287. Maximian prepares a fleet and army for the
reduction of Britain.

A.D. 289. Carausius repulses Maximian, who is obliged
to make peace with him.

A.B. 292. Diocletian associates Constantius and Maxi-
minus with him in the empire.

Constantius, who now mles over Gaul, Spain, and
Britain, divorces Helena.

' The Menapii inhabited the country on the south of the Scheldt, in ^e
modem kingdom of Belgium.

A.D. 312.] THE ROMAN ERA. 3 1

Constantius reduces Gessoriacum, which belonged
to Carausius.

A.D. 294. Carausius is slain by his admiral Allectus,
who assumes the purple in Britain.

A.D. 296. Constantius, passing in a mist by the Bri-
tish fleet, lands in Britain and burns his ships.

Defeats and kills Allectus, and recovers Britain for
the empire.

A.D. 304. Alban* and other Christians suffer martyr;
dom. According to Bede 17,000 Christians are martyred
in one month in different parts of the empire ^.

A.D. 306. By the abdication of Diocletian and Maxi-
mian *^, Constantius and Galerius become emperors.

Constantius chiefly resides in Britain, and makes
a successful expedition against the Caledonians.

A.D. 306. Constantius dies at Eboracum, July 25 ; is
buried at Cair Segeint (probably near Caernarvon), ac-
cording to Nennius.

CONSTANTINE, his son, being in Britain, is proclaimed
emperor.

Maxentius, son of Maximian, takes the title of Au-
gustus at Rome.

A.D. 307. Licinius, brother-in-law of Constantine, is
declared emperor.

A.D. 312. Constantine marches against Maxentius, hav-
ing with him levies from Britain.
Death of Maxentius.

* Alban, according to the legend, was a pagan resident of Verulam, who
charitably gave shelter to a Christian priest, named Amphibalus. and was
converted b^ him. Amphibalus having escaped by Albaji's assistance, the
latter was seized, and refusing to renounce his faith, was scourged and be-
headed. On the spot where he su£fered martyrdom "a church built of
wonderful workmanship " afterwards arose, to which a monastic institution
was^ added by Offa about 787, the abbot of which received from Pope
Adrian IV. precedence over all others, on account of its patron saint being
regarded as the ptoto-martyr of England.

" This was in the tenth persecution, under Diocletian and Maximian ; the
former persecutions are not mentioned as extending to Britain, nor is there
any certain evidence that that of Diocletian did so.

" Maximian survived imtil 3x0, and Diocletian till 316.

32 THE ROMAN ERA. [A.D. 313 —

A.D. 313. Constantine embraces Christianity •*.

Leads an army against the Britons beyond the wall
of Severus, and subdues them.

A.D. 814. Certain British bishops are present at the
council at Aries *.

A.D. 819. Pacatianus, propraetor.

A.D. 825. The council of Nice, at which British bishops
are believed to have been present.

AJ). 882. Constantine makes a new division of the
empire, which assigns Britain, Gaul, and Iberia to one
praefect.

A.D. 337. Constantine dies. In the division of the
empire, his son Constantine receives Britain, Gaul, and
Iberia.

A.D. 340. Constans acquires possession of Britain, on
the death of Constantine the Younger.

A.D. 843. Constans visits Britain, and restores tran-
quillity there.

A.D. 850. Magnentius, whose father was a Briton, kills
Constans, and possesses himself of part of his dominions.
The army in Britain favour Magnentius.

A.D. 353. Magnentius is defeated and killed by Con-
stantius, who thus secures the whole empire.

Martinus, praefect in Britain, kills himself, having
failed to stab Paulus, who had been sent to inquire into
his conduct in the time of Magnentius.

A.D. 357. Julian, nephew of the emperor, builds 800
vessels of small size to import com from Britain for the
supply of the Roman garrisons in Germany.

A.D. 859. Julian builds warehouses for the corn received
from Britain.

^ Bede states that Constantine was baptized at Rome by Pope Sylvester,
but other writers assert that he only received baptism a short time before
his death, in 337.

" From the signatures to the canons it appears that they were Eborius of
York, Restitutus of London, and Adelfius "de civitate Colonia Londinen-
sium/' which is probably a mistake for " Legionensium " (Caerleon).

A.D. 37S-] THE ROMAN ERA. 33

The council of Ariminium (Rimini), at which several
bishops from Britain are present.
A.D. 360. Alypius, vicar (or lieutenant) in Britain.
The Scots and Picts invade Roman Britain.
Lupicinus is despatched to oppose them.
A J). 361. Constantius dies. Julian, surnamed the Apos-
tate, succeeds.

A J). 362. Julian reforms the fiscal abuses of the prae-
fects in Britain.

A.D. 863. Julian is killed, June 26. Jovian succeeds.
A.D. 364. Jovian dies, Feb. 17. He is succeeded by
Valentinian, who associates with himself his brother
Valens.

Roman Britain harassed by the Saxons by sea, and
the Picts and Scots by land.

A.B. 367. Revolt in Britain, in which FuUofaudes and
Nectaridus, the commanders of the army and fleet, are
slain.

Severus sent by the emperor into Britain, but soon
recalled. Jovinus appointed praefect, who sends Prover-
tuides thither before him.

Theodosius appointed to the command in Britain.
The Picts at this time divided into two tribes, the
Dicalidonae and Vecturiones.

A.B. 368. Theodosius routs the Picts and Scots, and
establishes peace.

Valentinus, brother-in-law of Maximinus, having
been banished to Britain, conspires against Theodosius.
Is detected, and put to death.

Theodosius restores the cities and fortifies the bor-
ders ; he recovers the country between the walls of Se-
verus and Agricola, and forms it into a province called
Valentia, in honour of the emperor. Is recalled.

A.D. 372. Fresh disturbances in Britain; Fraomarius
is sent thither by Valentinian.
A.D. 375. Valentinian dies, November 17. He is suc-

34 THE ROMAN ERA. [a.D. 375 —

ceeded by his sons Gratian and Valentinian the younger.
Gratian has Gaul, Iberia and Britain.

A.D. 379. Theodosius (son of the pacificator of Britain)
is associated in the empire by Gratian.

A.D. 382. Clemens Maximus repels the Picts and Scots
who had made incursions on Britain.

A.D. 383. The army in Britain revolt, and make Maxi-
mus emperor, who passing into Gaul, puts Gratian to
death, August 23.

A.B. 384. Maximus fixes his seat of government at
Treveri (Treves).

A.D. 387. Maximus, with a large army of Britons and
Gauls, invades Italy, and expels Valentinian.

A.B.388. Maximus defeated and killed in Italy, and
his son Victor in Gaul.

The Britons of the army of Maximus establish them-
selves in Armorica (Britanny).

A.D. 392. Valentinian killed by Arbogastes, a Gaul,
May 15.

A.D. 393. Chrysanthus, vicar (or lieutenant) in Britain.

A J). 894. Ninias, a Briton educated at Rome, is or-
dained to the bishopric of the Southern Picts by Pope
Siricius.

A.D. 395. Theodosius dies, January 17. His sons Ar-
cadius and Honorius succeed, and the Roman empire is
henceforth divided into the Eastern and Western.

AJ). 396. The Britons, harassed by the Picts and
Scots, apply to Honorius, the emperor of the West, for aid.
A legion is despatched to their assistance by Stilicho,
the general of Honorius, and the invaders are repulsed.

A.D. 400. The wall of Severus repaired.

Pelagius, a Briton, begins to spread his heretical
doctrines about this time '.

' He denied the doctrine of original sin, and the necessity of grace, and
asserted that man_ could attain to perfection. Nearly thirty councils were
called, at all of which his opinions were condemned. liis chief disciple was
Coelestius, an Irishman.

A.D. 411.] THE ROMAN ERA. 35

A.D. 402. The Roman legion being withdrawn, the Picts
and Scots resume their inroads.
A.D.403. The Goths invade Italy.
A.D. 407. The Vandals penetrate into Gaul, and threaten
Britain.

The army in Britain revolts, and declares Marcus
emperor.

Marcus is killed, and Gratian, a native of Britain,
assumes the purple.

Gratian is deposed and killed, four months after
his elevation.

Constantine usurps the empire in Britain, and col-
lecting a fleet and army invades Gaul and Iberia.

A.D. 408. Sams, despatched against Constantine, be-
sieges him in Valentia, but is himself obliged to flee
into Italy.

Constantine makes his son Constans Caesar.
Honorius recognises Constantine as his partner in
the empire.

Arcadius dies, and is succeeded by his son Theo-
dosius II.

A.B. 409. Gerontius, a Briton, revolts against Con-
stantine.

The Britons arm themselves against the invading
barbarians, and also expel the Roman magistrates.

A.D. 410. Rome captured and sacked by the Goths,
under Alaric, August 24, in the n63rd year of its foun-
dation ',

Honorius writes letters to the British cities absolving
them from their allegiance, and urging them to provide
for their own security.

A.D. 411. Gerontius kills Constans Caesar, and causes
Maximus to be elected emperor.

B This is according to the Dionysian computation. Bede says the ii6^th
year, and the Saxon Chronicle "about the moth." Some authorities
assign the year 409, others 410, on which Muratori remarks, " It is strange
that the precise year of so great a catastrophe should be so uncertain."

36 BRITAIN INDEPENDENT. [A.D. 418.

Constantius, the general of Honorius, defeats and
kills Constantine and his son Julian.

Gerontius is killed by his own soldiers, and Maximus
deprived of the purple.

Events in General History.

B.C.

Julius Caesar completes the conquest of Gaul . . . 5 ^
The Roman Empire established by Octavianus (Augustus) 31
Jerusalem taken by the Romans . . . . a.d. 70
The Emperor Hadrian makes the Euphrates the limit of

the Roman Empire . . . . . . • ' ' 7

The Persian Empire founded by Ardisheer . . . 226
Constantinople made the capital of the Eastern Empire . 324
The Franks commence the conquest of Gaul . . . 354
The Goths cross the Danube, and make war on the

Roman Empire 377

The Vandals establish themselves in Gaul . . . 406
The Gothic kingdom of Spain founded . . . .414

BRITAIN INDEPENDENT.

A.D. 418. "This year the Romans collected all the
treasures that were in Britain, and some they hid in the
earth, so that no one has since been able to find them ;
and some they carried with them into Gaul ^."

With this passage from the Saxon Chronicle the
authentic history of Britain ceases for a period of nearly
sixty years. In the interval are usually placed certain
events mentioned in the writings of Gildas and Nennius,
but nothing is to be drawn from their statements that
can be reduced to chronological accuracy ; for the first

I* Passages thus marked, during the Saxon Era, unless some other work
is cited, are taken from the Enghsh version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,
published in the Monumenta ; and although I have found it necessary,
especially in the poetical portions, slightly to condense, I have the authority
of the surviving Editor of that invaluable work for saying that the sense of
the original has been carefully preserved.

BRITAIN INDEPENDENT. 37

■

gives no dates, and the few found in the latter are con-
tradictory. Though some, perhaps several, of the events
may be true, it is impossible to assign dates to the re-
puted marriage of Guorthigim (Vortigern) to the daughter
of Hengist ; the murder of the British nobles ; the nu-
merous battles said to have been fought with various
success by Guorthemir (Vortimer) and Ambrosius against
the invaders ; the death of Horsa, or the foundation of
the first Saxon kingdom.

By comparing, however, these statements with the
few scattered notices to be found in Zosimus and other
writers of the period, we learn that, the Roman power
being finally withdrawn, the British cities formed them-
selves into a varying number of independent states,
usually at war with each other, but occasionally united
by some common danger into a confederacy, with an
elective chieftain whose power lasted no longer than the
emergency. Such a ruler probably was Vortigern, who,
— pressed at once by the northern tribes and the sea
rovers, and by rivals for power, of whom one named
Ambrosius, of Roman extraction, was the most formid-
able, — bears the reproach of having called in the aid
of the Saxons against both his foreign and domestic
foes. Recent inquirers have attempted to shew that the
well-known names of Hengist and Horsa*, ascribed to
their leaders, are not proper names, but rather titles of
honour, (signifying war-horse and mare,) bestowed on
many daring leaders of bands, and that the first employ-
ment of mercenaries, who soon leagued with the enemy,
and at length became numerous enough to rule the
country they were hired to guard, should be placed at
least as early as the year 429, or twenty years before
the era usually assigned.

It seems hopeless to attempt to identify the sites of

' In the original, Hengst or Hengest, and Hors.

38 BRITAIN INDEPENDENT.

the numerous battles that ensued, or to assign satisfactory
dates to them ; indeed, the whole sum of our knowledge
on the matter may be said to be comprised in the state-
ment of the Saxon Chronicle under the year 473 : " Hen-
gest and JEsc fought against the Welsh (Walas or Wealas),
and took spoils innumerable ; and the Welsh fled from
the Angles (Englan) hke fire/'

Several applications for aid are stated by Nennius
to have been made to the Romans, particularly one ad-
dressed to "-^tius thrice consul V' which is couched in
most abject terms, and is known in history by the title
of the "groans of the Britons;" some succour seems
occasionally to have been afforded, but it had no per-
manent effect on the contest.

In addition to the miseries of war the Britons suf-
fered at this time from religious dissensions, until the
spread of the Pelagian heresy induced them to apply to
the bishops of Gaul for spiritual aid. Germanus, bishop
of Auxerre, twice visited the island for the purpose (pro-
bably in 428 and 446), and on one occasion he also gave
them military assistance, by leading a body of newly
baptized Britons against their enemies, and gaining a
victory known as the " Hallelujah," from the cry with
which his converts fell upon their heathen foes.

Meantime the western division of the mighty empire
of Rome, of which Britain had so long formed a part,
was falling into utter ruin. Rome was abandoned by
the emperors (a.d. 404), who, surrounded by barbarian
mercenaries, sought ignoble safety amid the marshes of
Ravenna, where they were in reality little more than
puppets in the hands of their ministers. Iberia was oc-
cupied by the Vandals as early as 410 ; Gaul was about
the same time partitioned among the Visigoths, the Bur-
gundians, the Germans, and the Roman settlers, and ere

^ Therefore, if made at all, between the years 446 and 454, when he was
consul for the fourth time.

BRITAIN INDEPENDENT. 39

long became a Frankish kingdom (A.D. 418). The move-
ments of the various German tribes in Germany itself,
and the encroachments of barbarian races, drove the
Goths and other nations into Italy, where they took
firm root, and it is a Gothic historian^ who relates how,
after the death of Valentinian III., Rome was in the
course of twenty years occupied by eight "tyrants" in
succession. The last of them, contemptuously styled
Augustulus, was in 476 deposed by Odoacer, the captain
of the Herulian guard, who, despising the empty name of
emperor, governed the country for a while with wisdom
and success under the modest title of Patrician, until
he in his turn was defeated and soon after treacherously
slain by Theodoric, the founder of the Gothic dynasty in
Italy (A.D. 493).

NOTE.

Vague Knowledge of Britain.

Considering the light estimation in which all the countries
that they termed barbarous were held by the Greeks and
Romans, it is not surprising to find even their best writers
abounding in fables and idle fancies, when mentioning a region
so remote as Britain. They speak of the country of **the
painted Britons," "the horrid Britons," as adjoining Thule,
the jegion of enchantments ; and both Strabo and Diodorus
Siculus gravely affirm that men live in the neighbouring isle
of leme with difficulty on account of the cold, and are can-
nibals. But perhaps the most remarkable instance of how
little was really known of Britain after ages of Roman occupa-
tion is to be found in the following passage from Procopius,
who lived in the sixth century, was a man of action, an ex-
tensive traveller, and a senator, yet felt it necessary, **lest
he should be charged with ignorance," though evidently not
a believer himself, to mix with his History of the Gothic
War " so wild a fiction as the following : —

" In the northern ocean lies the island Brittia, not far from the con-
tinent, but as much as 200 stadia, right opposite to the outlets of the
Rhine, and is between Britannia and the island Thule. For Britannia lies

' Jomandes, bishop of Ravenna, in the sixth century.
°> Dc Bell. Gothic, lib. iv. c. 20.

40 NOTE.

somewhere towards the setting sun, at the extremity of the country of the
Spaniards, distant from the continent not less than 4,000 stadia

" In this isle of Brittia, men of ancient time built a long wall, cutting
off a great portion of it: for the soil, and the men, and all other things
are not alike on both sides : for on the eastern side of the wall there is
a wholesomeness of air in conformity with the seasons, moderately warm in
summer, and cool in winter. Men inhabit here, living much as other men.
The trees with their appropriate fruits flourish in season, and their corn-
lands are as productive as others, and the district appears sufficiently fer-
tilized by streams. But oA the western side all is different, insomuch indeed
that it would be impossible for a man to live there even half an hour.
Vipers and serpents innumerable, with all other kinds of wild beasts, infest
that place ; and what is most strange, the natives affirm that if any one,
passing the wall, should proceed to the other side, he would die imme-
diately, unable to endure the unwholesomeness of the atmosphere. Death
also attacking such beasts as go thither, forthwith destroys them. But as
I have arrived at this point of my history, it is incumbent on me to record
a tradition very nearly allied to fable, which has never appeared to me true
in all respects, though constantly spread abroad by men without number,
who assert that themselves have been agents in the transactions, and also
hearers of the words. I must not, however, pass it by altogether unnoticed,
lest when thus writing concerning the island of Brittia I should bring upon
myself an imputation of ignorance of certain circumstances perpetually hap-
pening there.

" They say then that the souls of men departed are always conducted to
this place ; but in what manner I will explain immediately, having frequently
heard it from men of that region relating it most seriously, although I
would rather ascribe their asseverations to a certain dreamy faculty which
possesses them. On the coast of the land over against this island Brittia,
m the ocean, are many villages, inhabited by men employed in fishing and
in agriculture ; who for the sake of merchandize pass over to this island.
In other respects they are subject to the Franks, but they never render
them tribute ; this burden, as they relate, having been of old remitted to
them for a certain service, which I shall immediately describe. The in-
habitants declare that the conducting of souls devolves on them in turn.
Such of them, therefore, as on the ensuing night are to go on this occu-
pation in their turn of service, retiring to their dwellings as soon as it §rows
dark, compose themselves to sleep, awaiting the conductor of the expedition.
All at once, at night, they perceive that their doors are shaken, and they
hear a certain indistinct voice summoning them to their work. Without
delay arising from their beds they proceed to the shore, not understanding
the necessity which thus constrains them, yet nevertheless compelled by its
influence. And here they perceive vessels in readiness, wholly void of men,
not, however, their own, but certain strange vessels, in which embarking
they lay hold on the oars, and feel their burden made heavier by a mul-
titude of passengers, the boats being sunk to the gunwale aind rowlock,
and floating scarce a finger above the water. They see not a single person,
but having rowed for one hour only, they arrive at Brittia : whereas when
they navigate their own vessels, not making use of sails, but rowing, they
amye there with difiiculty even in a night and a day. Having reached
the island and been released from their burden, they depart immediately,
the boats quickly becoming light, suddenly emerging from the stream, and
sinking in the water no deeper than the keel. These people see no human
being, either while navigating with them, nor when released from the ship.
But they say that they hear a certain voice there, which seems to announce
to such as receive them the names of all who have crossed over with them,
describing the dignities which they formerly possessed, and calling them
over by their hereditary titles. And also if women happen to cross over
with them, they call over the names of the husbands with whom they lived."

In spite of the historian's distinction in this passage of Brittia
and Britain, he afterwards mentions many circumstances which
shew conclusively they are in reality one a.nd the same, and
that it is Britain which he speaks of, as (he place of dis-
embodied spirits.

Masonry, Jewrj Wall, Loicasler.

Ooll Ooln attilliaUd U Edward tlu ConhisDr.

THE SAXON ERA.

FROM THE FIFTH TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY.

The original country of the Saxons cannot be regarded
as fully ascertained. A tale accepted as authentic by
Witikind of Corbie, in the tenth century, represents them
as arriving in ships, and settling themselves by force
among the Thuringians, in the time of the emperor
Vespasian, and from the idolatrous estimation in which
they are known to have held the war-horse, it has been
conjectured that they probably came from the country
eastward of the Baltic, that form of paganism prevail-
ing in those regions even to comparatively recent times.
The first direct mention of them, however, is that by
Ptolemy, who, before the close of the second century,
speaks of the tribes on the shore and the islands at
the mouth of the Elbe, as Saxons, and pirates.

Of the form of government prevailing at that time
among them, we know little more than that, as with
other barbarous nations, it was based on their idolatry.
Their chiefs claimed descent from Woden, the god of
war', and they had many other deities, the names of

■ A chief Qfprisiitly « well as warlilte character, styled Sigge Fridulfs™,
game from the region near the Caspian sea into the north 01 Europe, pro-
bably not long before Ihc Chrutian era. The Northern Sagas describe hin

THE SAXON ERA. 43

some of whom are still preserved in our English tongue,
little altered, in those of the days of the week. War
being the only honourable occupation, each chief habi-
tually set forth to plunder the richer nations which had
fallen under the Roman sway ; and although when they
first appeared on the coasts of the provinces their vessels
were mere boats, and their arms were rude, and scanty
in supply, their daring courage compensated these dis-
advantages.

Each chief appears to have been wholly independent,
acknowledging no superior, but we may fairly conclude
from what is recorded of other nations, that confederacies
were formed among them under some distinguished
leader when any rich prize was in prospect ; and thus,
and by the junction of other tribes whom the Romans
had not been able fully to subdue, as well as by actual
colonization in many quarters, the Saxons so extended
themselves that their name became, before the close of
the third century, a general one for the sea rovers
of the North, without implying any national affinity,
being, according to one theory, derived from the long
knife ("seax") which at first formed their principal
weapon. Soon, however, either from the spoils of the
vanquished or their own industry, or both, they were
provided also with long spears and ponderous battle-
axes, and their vessels, now denominated chiules, or
war-ships, were of sufficient size to convey a body of
several hundred men each. Such a number of hardy
pirates suddenly landing in countries disarmed by the
jealous policy of their rulers, had little to fear from the
comparatively unwarlike provincials, and what had been
at first a mere plundering incursion often gave birth to
a fixed settlement, which steadily grew in importance as
the Roman power declined ; and it is the opinion of
many writers that scattered bodies of Saxons were thus
established on various parts of our coast long before the

44 INTRODUCTION

period usually assigned for the first coming of their na-
tion to Britain.

There is abundant evidence that these people rapidly
extended themselves along the coast of the German
ocean as far as the Rhine, and before the year 300 their
ravages had become so frequent and so formidable that
the whole district from the Elbe to the British channel
was known as the Saxon Shore, and officers were ap-
pointed both in Britain and in Gaul to whom the task
of guarding the sea-board of the Roman possessions
was assigned. One of the earliest of these maritime
prefects (who afterwards bore the title of Counts of the
Sea Shore or Saxon Shore) was Carausius, who took
advantage of the fleet entrusted to him for the purpose
of his office to establish himself as an independent ruler
in Britain •*.

Meantime the Saxons pursued their ravages with little
check, and spread such terror of their name that the
emperor Julian and the historian Procopius, equally with
Ammianus Marcellinus and Zosimus, speak of them as
more fierce and formidable than any other of the bar-
barous nations. By land as well as by sea they appeared
irresistible. When they had ravaged the coast, they as-
cended the rivers ; when their chiules, or their smaller
vessels, could penetrate no farther, they were abandoned,
and the rovers, seizing on such horses as they could find,
pushed fearlessly into the interior, as a mixed force of
horse and foot, and wasted with fire and sword every
district they approached, until at length some river was
reached, descending which with such rude barks as they
could hastily construct, they again launched on the ocean,
to pursue another career of devastation.

" We have not," says Sidonius ApoUinaris, a Gaulish
bishop of the fifth century, " a more cruel and more dan-
gerous enemy than the Saxons : they overcome all who

»• See A.D. 286.

TO THE SAXON ERA. 45

have the courage to 'oppose them ; they surprise all who
are so imprudent as not to be prepared for their attack.
When they pursue, they infallibly overtake ; when they
are pursued, their escape is certain. They despise
danger ; they are inured to shipwreck ; they are eager
to purchase booty with the peril of their lives. Tem-
pests, which to others are so dreadful, to them are
subjects of joy ; the stonn is their protection when they
are pressed by the enemy, and a cover for their opera-
tions when they meditate an attack. Before they quit
their own shores, they devote to the altars of their gods
the tenth part of the principal captives ; and when they
are on the point of returning, the lots are cast with an
affectation of equity, and the impious vow is fulfilled."

This picture, in which fear and hatred are alike ap-
parent, might be suspected of exaggeration, but its main
features are fully justified by the whole tenor of the Ice-
landic Sagas, the earliest accounts on the side of the
ravagers that have come down to us ; for though imme-
diately relating to the Northmen of the eighth and suc-
ceeding centuries, no reasonable doubt can be enter-
tained that they are also fairly applicable to their Saxon
precursors. In these writings we find it constantly af-
firmed, that "the gods are with the strongest;" that
human sacrifices are absolutely necessary to gain and pre-
serve their favour ; that war is the only fitting occupation
of free men ; and that the only desirable death is that on
the field of battle, or its substitute suicide '^. Those who
fell by the sword were thus marked out as the especial
favourites of their fierce divinities, and were alone ad-
mitted to the hall of Woden (Valhalla), where their time
passed in alternate fighting and feasting; whilst for
cowards (for such seem to have existed among them)
and those who died a natural death, were reserved all

<! Sigge, or Woden, their ereat exemplar, was supposed to have killed
1 imself when he found the inmmities of age coming on.

46 THE SAXON ERA.

the pains of Niflheim (literally, Evil Home), a shadowy
region of torment.

Men holding such ideas would naturally be at least
as regardless of the lives of others as of their own, and
being also, after their barbarous fashion, devout, they
thought they did their gods service by wreaking especial
vengeance on the most sacred objects of the Christian
communities that they invaded. Hence the destruction
of churches and murder of priests which the Saxon
Chronicle relates as part of every ravage committed
by the Northmen, and which had been before prac-
tised by the Saxons themselves, as Gildas informs us,
whose testimony may in this case well be believed, for
if they had not been actuated by a fierce hatred of
Christianity, their reception of its saving doctrines, we
may presume, would not have been so long delayed as
it actually was.

Yet these people had even in their rudest state qualities
which shew that they deserve a more favourable judg-
ment than is often formed of them. Their free spirit,
their active, adventurous character, the lofty sense of
personal honour shewn in their earliest codes of laws •*,
and above all, that base of true civilization, their high
estimate of woman, are noble features in themselves,
but doubly interesting to us as shewing that our country
owes her proud place among the nations mainly to the'
development of the feelings, the principles, and the in-
stitutes of our Saxon forefathers.

THE HEPTARCHY «.

When the acquisitions of the Anglo-Saxon invaders
assumed something of a settled form, they are found

^ See section on Anglo-Saxon Laws.

* The number of independent states founded by the invaders was at least
nine, if not ten ; but as the small Mid Saxon kingdom (now Middlesex) very

SCOTLAND. 47

to bear the following relation to the old Roman pro-
vinces.

The Jutish kingdom of Kent, and the South Saxon
kingdom, may be represented by the modern counties
of Kent, Surrey and Sussex ; while Wessex occupied
the remainder of the tract between the Channel and
the Thames [Britannia Primd)^ having, however, for
a very long period an unconquered British population
beyond the Tamar (the West-Welsh).

Immediately north-east of the Thames lay the small
East Saxon state (Essex), but the Anglian kingdoms
occupied the rest of the east coast and the interior
{Flavia Ccesariensis)^ the East Angles holding Suffolk
and Norfolk, the Mid Angles or Mercians extending
from the Thames to the H umber, and from the fen
districts to the Severn; while the two Northumbrian
kingdoms (also Anglian) occupied Maxima Ccesariensis
and Valentia, or North England and South Scotland,
but were bounded by independent British tribes in Cum-
berland and Strathclyde.

Westward of Mercia extended Wales {Britannia Se-
cunda), divided into many small states, the independ-
ence of a part of which survived for more than 200
years the overthrow of the Saxon power.

SCOTLAND.

The whole country north of the Forth and west of
the Solway was in the sixth century occupied by the
two great tribes of the Picts and the Scots '. The for-
mer, representing the aborigines, occupied the plains

soon ceased to exist, and the two Northumbrian states of Bemicia and Deira
were frequently governed by one ruler, it is customary, though not strictly
correct, to speak of the whole as the Heptarchy. ' See p. 11.

48 THE SAXON ERA.

between the Forth and the Grampians ; the latter, who
were settlers from Ireland, and still maintained a close
union with that country s^, were scattered over the west
and the north, among the islands and mountains.

Christianity had been introduced among the Southern
Picts by the labours of Ninias, late in the fourth century^ ;
but the Scots received it from their kindred in Ireland,
probably early in the following age. The Scottish teach-
ers were indefatigable in spreading the Gospel. Not only
did they impart its light to their heathen countrymen,
but, with true missionary zeal, they laboured alike among
the fugitive Britons of the west ', and the triumphant
Saxons of the north. The see of Lindisfarne (the mother
church of Durham) was founded by Aidan, one of their
number (a.d. 635), and was ruled by Scottish prelates
until the middle of the seventh century, when the Roman
system obtained the supremacy, mainly through the in-
fluence and address of Wilfrid K

' Little is accurately known of the relations between the
Picts and the Northumbrians, but it would seem to have
been much like what prevailed in South Britain with the
Saxons and the Britons. The Northumbrian kings fre-
quently ravaged the districts of the Picts, who were at
the same time pressed on by the Scots. At length the
Picts were entirely subdued, (some writers say extirpated,
but this is doubtless an exaggeration,) and early in the
ninth century they disappear from history. Though
the Scots then became supreme, nearly three centuries
elapsed ere they gave their name, and something like
its present limits, to the ancient Scottish monarchy.

K Two great invasions of Caledonia from Ireland are mentioned in the
Irish Annals ; one, in the middle of the third century, led by Carbry Riada
(the Reoda of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — see p. 2), and another in the
early part of the sixth, to support the earlier colony, then threatened by
the Picts.

»> See A.D. 394. i See p. 14. J Sec a.d. 664.

A.D. 492.] THE BRETWALDAS. 49

IRELAND.

This country, which was not attacked by the Romans*",
also escaped the ravages of the Saxons at their first com-
ing, and long afforded a refuge to the distressed Britons.
Christianity had been introduced probably in the fourth
century, and in the following one it was very generally
diffused by the preaching of St. Patrick. Dathi, the last
pagan king, is said to have died A.D. 428. By the close
of that age, churches and monasteries * abounded, and,
without crediting all that national writers of compara-
tively recent date have affirmed, we may well believe
that, until the arrival of the Ostmen, the island enjoyed
a much greater share of peace and civilization than fell
to the lot of the states of the Heptarchy.

A.D. 455. The kingdom of Kent said to be founded "*.

A.D. 477. Ella and his three sons land on the south
coast and commence the foundation of the South Saxon
kingdom (Sussex).

A.D. 488. Esc, son of Hengist, succeeds him as king
of Kent.

A.D.491. Ella storms and destroys Andreds-cester,
(probably the Roman Anderida, near Pevensey",) and
assumes the title of king.

A.D. 492. Ella is chosen Bretwalda.

THE BRETWALDAS.

Bede® enumerates seven early Saxon chiefs, who, he
states, in succession ruled all Britain south of the Hum-

^ See A.D. 82.

' "The lands given by the piety of St. Patrick's converts for the foun-
dation of these establishments, often conveyed the rights of chieftainship-,

and so secured the allegiance of the clan This was the r^ cause

of the great extension of the monastic life in Ireland Every such

society became a school for the education of the clergy." Todd's " St.
Patrickj Apostle of Ireland," p. 506.

"» This date is probably too late by 20 years.

•» Some writers believe that the Andreds-cester destroyed by Ella was
a British settlement, in the forest of Andred, near Newenden, in Kent.

* A priest of Jarrow, in Northumberland, who flourished in the eighth

50 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 495—

ber ; " Ella, king of the South Saxons," says the Saxon
Chronicle, " was the first who had thus much dominion,"
and it mentions that their title was that of " Bretwalda."
Various theories have been suggested as to the power
implied by the term, but it is most probable that this
differed at different times p. Ella, the first who bore the
title, was a chief of warlike renown in his own country,
and it is most likely that he was chosen as the leader
of the rest when it was found that the Britons made
a more stubborn defence than had been expected ; it
is in this sense, for military purposes, that the others
are said to have been under his sovereignty ; he was
their war-king against the conmion enemy. This idea
is supported by the statement of Nennius, that the
Saxons when pressed by the Britons drew kings from
Germany to rule over them in Britain. Afterwards the
title was assumed by Ceawlin, and others, and it then
iniplied a sort of honorary or imperial supremacy both
in peace and war over their fellow kings ; but it is re-
markable that it was not taken by any of the Mercian
rulers, though they were unquestionably the most potent
princes of the Heptarchy.

Bede's list comprises Ella of Sussex, Ceawlin of Wessex,
Ethelbert of Kent, Redwald of East Anglia, and Edwin,
Oswald, and Oswy of Northumbria.

The appellation Bretwalda was revived by Egbert, as
a glorious ancient title, but it does not appear to have
been bestowed on any of his successors.

A.D. 496. Cerdic and his son Cynric establish them-
selves in the west.

century, and is usually known as the Venerable Bede, and the Father of
English History. His Ecclesiastical History was translated from the Latin
by iCine Alfred, and it apparently furnished the basis of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle.

P The term is often vmderstood to mean "wielder of the strength of
Britain," but seems rather to imply ''the widely-ruling chief."

A.D. 547.] THE HEPTARCHY. 51

A.D. 601. Port' and his sons Bieda and Maegla land
on the south coast.

A.D. 514. Stuf and Wihtgar, the nephews of Cerdic,
land in Britain.

A.D. 616. The see of Bangor said to be founded '.

A.D. 51B. Cerdic and Cynric defeat the Britons at
Cerdic's ford (probably Charford, on the Avon, Hamp-
shire), and establish the West Saxon kingdom (Wessex).
To this period belongs whatever may be real of the
achievements ascribed to the famous Arthur. Caradoc
of Llancarvan mentions him as a petty prince in
Somersetshire, whilst Nennius attributes to him triumphs
over the Saxons in every quarter of the island ; but it
is only in Geoffrey of Monmouth • that we read of his
conquests abroad, whicfl are so extravagant as to have
caused some doubt as to his actual existence. It seems,
however, not improbable that he gained a victory over
the Saxons at Caer Badon (Bath, or Badbury) in 520,
and that he met his death in the field at Camelon in 542.

A.D. 626. Erkenwin founds the East Saxon kingdom

(Essex).

Uffa lands on the east coast *.

A.D. 630. The isle of Wight conquered by the West
Saxons, and granted to Stuf and Wihtgar.

A.D. 634. Cerdic dies, and is succeeded by Cynric.

A.D. 644. Death of Wihtgar.

A.D. 547. Ida founds the kingdom of NoRTHUMBRIA.

1 His memory was traditionally preserved in the name of the great naval
arsenal, Portsmouth, (Port's mouth, or haven).

_ ' Dubritius, stjrled the first archbishop of Wales, is supposed to have
lived about this time, and to have held the see of Llandaff, as well as that
of Caerleon (now St. David's). He resigned both, and retired^ to Bardsey
island, where he died. He was commemorated in the old English Calendar
on November 74.

• One of the latest investigators of English history. Dr. Lappenbei^, treats
Geoffrey with more consideration than he usually meets with. ^ '* We will
venture," he says, **to express a hope of one day seeing what is historical
in Geoffrey of Monmouth separated from that which is fabulous ; the latter
honoured as a pleasing relic of the times of old, and the rest exalted into
useful matter for the national history."

*■ The conquests of this chief laidf the foundation of the kingdom of East
Anglia, but the title of king was not assumed till 571, by another leader of
the same name.

52 T^E SAXON ERA. [A.D. 550—

A.D. 550 (circa). Kentigem, a Scot, founds a bishop's
see at St. Asaph.

A.D. 560. Ceawlin (Bretwalda) succeeds in Wessex.
Ella succeeds in the southern part of Northumbria ".

A.D. 665. Columba, a priest from Ireland, converts the
Northern Picts, and builds a monastery in Hii^.
Ethelbert (Bretwalda) succeeds in Kent *.

A.D. 568. The West Saxons make war on Ethelbert,
and drive him into Kent.

A.D. 571. The kingdom of EAST Anglia founded.

A.D. 675 (circa). Ethelbert marries Bertha, a Christian
princess ; Luidhard, a Gallic bishop, accompanies her.

A.D. 577. Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath captured
by the West Saxons.

A.D. 584. Cutha, the brother of Ceawlin, killed in battle
at Frethern (near Stroud, in Gloucestershire) : " and
Ceawlin took many towns, and spoils innumerable ; and
wrathful he thence returned to his own.**
Crida founds the. kingdom of Mercia.

A.D. 588. Death of Ella of Northumbria. He is suc-
ceeded by Ethelfrith of Bemicia ^,

A.D. 591. Ceawlin defeated at Woddesbeorg (Wood-
borough, or Wanborough, in Wiltshire), by his brother
Ceol, and driven from his kingdom.

A.D. 693. Ceawlin and his brother Cwichelm, and Crida
of Mercia, killed.

Ethelfrith of Bemicia succeeds to the whole of
Northumbria.

« The conquests of Ida extended from the Humber to the Frith of Forth,
but on his death they were divided into the two states of Deira and Bemicia.
Ella, the son of Yf!a, a Saxon prince, seized on the former, and only the
latter, which lay between the Tweed and the Frith of Forth, remained to
Adda, the son of Ida. His nephew Ethelfrith, however, recovered Deira

in 593-

* Now lona, one of the Inner Hebrides.

* Ethelbert's kingdom was originally larger than the modem county of
the same name, but it was afterwards limited by the West Saxons, nis
accession is sometimes ascribed to the year 560, but this would appear to
be a mistake, as he was then only eight years of age.

y Ella, left a child, Edwin, only three years old, who, after many years
of exile, became the first Christian king of Northumbria.

A.D. 6l3.] THE HEPTARCHY. 53

A.D. 697. Augustine, the prior of a Roman monastery,
despatched by Pope Gregory the Great to attempt the
conversion of the Saxons, arrives with a few companions
in Kent. Ethelbert receives them with kindness, and
is baptized on Whitsunday, June 2.

Ceolwulf succeeds in Wessex. " He fought and con-
tended incessantly against either the Angles, or the
Welsh, or the Picts, or the Scots."

A.D. 699. Redwald (Bretwalda) succeeds in East Anglia.

A.D. 600 (circa). Ethelbert of Kent issues the earliest
collection of laws now remaining to us *.

A.D. 602. Augustine fixes his archiepiscopal seat at
Canterbury.

A.D. 603. The Scots invade Northumbria, but are de-
feated at Degsastan (probably Dalston, near Carlisle).

Augustine holds two conferences with the British
bishops ; they decline communion with him *.

A.D. 604. The East Saxons converted by Mellitus.
The sees of London and Rochester established.
Death of Augustine, May 26.

A.D. 611. Ceolwulf of Wessex dies. Cynegils, his
nephew, succeeds.

A.D. 613. " Ethelfrith of Northumbria led his army to
Chester, and there slew numberless Welshmen^ ; and
so was fulfilled the prophecy of Augustine, wherein he
saith, * If the Welsh will not be at peace with us, they
shall perish at the hands of the Saxons.' There also
were slain 200 priests, who came to pray for the army
of the Welsh ; their * ealdor ' was called Brocmail, who
with some fifty escaped thence *=."

* See section on Anglo-Saxon Laws.

* The dates 599, 601, 602, 604 have also been assigned for these con-
ferences, but that in the text is considered the best supported. The place
is believed to have been Aust, on the Severn.

*» The place was Bangor on Dee, near Wrexham, and 12 miles from Chester.

« One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle places this battle in 605 ; the Cambrian
Annals and the Annals of Tigemach in 613. The "prophecy" (or rather,
denunciation) was uttered at the second conference of Augustine with the
British bishops.

54 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 614 —

A.]). 614. Cynegils defeats the Britons" at Beandune
(Bampton, in Devonshire).

A.D. 616. Death of Ethelbert of Kent, February 24 ^.
Eadbald succeeds him, and after some lapse of time
is baptized.

A.D. 617. Ethelfrith of Northumbria killed by Redwald
of East Anglia. Edwin, son of Ella (Bretwalda), suc-
ceeds, "and subdues all Britain, the Kentish-men ex-
cepted *."

A.D. 619. Death of Laurentius, archbishop of Canter-
bury, Feb. 2.

A.D. 621. Death of Mellitus, archbishop of Canterbury,
April 24.

A.D. 625. Edwin marries Ethelburga, the daughter of
Ethelbert of Kent'. She is accompanied by Paulinus,
who is ordained bishop of the Northumbrians », July 21.

A.D. 626. Eanfleda, daughter of Edwin, is baptized by
Paulinus, at. Pentecost, June 8.

Edwin wars successfully against the West Saxons.

A.D. 627. " King Edwin and his people are baptized
by Paulinus on Easter-Day," April 12. "This was done
at York, where he first ordered a church to be built of
wood, which was consecrated in the name of St. Peter.
There the king gave Paulinus a bishop's see, and there
he afterwards conmianded a larger church to be built
of stone."

Penda succeeds in Mercia.

A.D. 628. Battle between the West Saxons and Mer-
cians, at Cirencester.

* Ethelbert was commemorated in the old English Church on the 24th of
February. Ethelbert of East Anglia, killed by Offa (see a.d. 792), was also
sainted, and commemorated on the 20th May. Several churches exist
{dedicated to the memory of one or the other of these kines.

« The conquest of the Picts and of the Mevanian isles (Man and Anglesey)
is also ascribed to him ; but if subdued, the Picts recovered their independ-
ence soon after.

' She was his second wife ; his first was Quenburga of Mercia.

ts A bishop's see had existed in the time of the Romans at York, but the
names of only three of the holders have been preserved, and those are of
'very little authority.

A.D. 640.] THE HEPTARCHY. 55

A.D. 633. Eorpwald, king of East Anglia, is baptized.

A.D. 633. Edwin is killed in battle by Penda of Mercia,
and his ally Cadwallader, a British chief, at Hatfield
Chase, in Yorkshire, October 14^.

Paulinus retires to Kent, with Edwin's queen and
daughter K

A.D. 634. Osric, a cousin of Edwin, succeeds in Deira,
and Eanfrith, the son of Ethelfrith, in Bemicia, but both
are soon expelled by Oswald (Bretwalda), another son
of Ethelfrith, who reigns over the whole of Northumbria.
Aidan, a Scot, establishes a bishop's see at Lindis-
fame "*, under his protection.

Birinus* commences the conversion of the West
Saxons.

A.D. 635. Cynegils of Wessex is baptized by Birinus ;
as is Cwichelm, his son, in the following year.

A.D. 636. Felix preaches to the East Angles.

A.D. 639. Cuthred of Wessex, son of Cwichelm, bap-
tized by Birinus.

A.D. 640. Death of Eadbald of Kent. " He overthrew
all idolatry in his kingdom, and was the first of the
English kings who established the Easter fast."
Ercombert succeeds in Kent.

WALES.

About this time "» Dynwal Moelmud, a descendant of
the British settlers in Armorica °, is said, in the Welsh

^ Edwin was canonized, and was commemorated on the 4th October in
the ancient English Church. A church exists at Coniscliflfe, in the county
of Durham, dedicated to him.

* Eadbald gave his park of Lyminge near Folkestone to his sister, who
there founded a nunnery, in wmch she died, and where her grave is still
pointed out Paulinus was made bishop of Rochester, and died a. d. 644.

k Since called Holy Island. It is on the coast of Northumberland, not
far from Bamborough Castle.

» He was a Benedictine monk, and became the first bishop of the West
Saxons ; his episcopal seat was at Dorchester, in Oxfordshire.

« This is the era assi^ed by Mr. Aneurin Owen ; earlier writers place
him far before the Christian era. ° See a.d. 383.

56 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 642—

triads, to have come from that country, and having
established his authority west of the Tamar and the
Severn, to have been recognised as " king of the Cymry."
He is described as "the best legislator that ever ap-
peared, and the best in securing privilege and protec-
tion both to native and alien, lest any one should act
wrongly and unlawfully." The laws ascribed to him,
n^hich are avowedly the basis of the legislation of Howel
Dda, some three centuries later, minutely define the rights
and duties of each class of the conmiunity, and exhibit
the plan of an enlightened and orderly government such
as it is historically certain never prevailed, either in
Armorica or Britain. Their origin is mdicated by the
fact that the supreme dignity and privileges of the bardic
order are dwelt on at length, and it seems probable that
what we now possess is a mere poetic paraphrase, in
which some traces of laws that had existed prior to the
time of Howel Dda are preserved among a mass of
fanciful rules, of which neither the age nor the autho-
rity can be satisfactorily determined.

A.D. 642. Oswald of Northumberland killed by Penda,
at Maserfield °, Aug. 5. OSWY, his brother, succeeds in
Bemicia ; and afterwards marries Eanfleda, the daughter
of Edwin.

A.D. 643. Cenwalch, son of Cynegils, succeeds in Wes-
sex, and commences the minster at Winchester; it is
finished in 648.

A.D. 644. Death of Paulinus, Oct. 10.
OswiNE succeeds in Deira.

<» Perhaps near Winwick, in Lancashire, but more probably near Oswestry,
in Shropshire. Oswald, who had been baptized in his youth, while an exile
in Scotland, was esteemed a saint and martyr, and commemorated in the
early English Church on the 5th of August. '' His sanctity and his miracles
were afterwards manifested in various ways beyond his island, and his hands
are at Bamborough uncomipted." His head being taken from the stake on
which it had been fixed, was kept as a relic for a while, and then placed in
the arms of St. Cuthbert, the bishop of Lindisfame. Nearly sixty churches
are to be found in England dedicated to St. Oswald, but some probably
belong to the bishop of Worcester of the same name in the tenth century.

A.D. 66 1.] THE HEPTARCHY. 57

A.D. 645. Penda drives Cenwalch from the kingdom
of Wessex.

A.D. 646. Cenwalch of Wessex is baptized.

A.D. 661. Oswine of Deira is slain by Oswy of Bernicia,
August 20. Adelwald succeeds.

Death of Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne, Aug. 31.
Finan, his successor, builds a church "in the Scottish
mode," of wood.

A.D. 653. Conversion of the Middle Angles or Mercians,
commmenced.

A.D. 654. King Anna, of East Anglia, slain.

Death of Honorius, archbishop of Canterbury, Sep-
tember 30.

A.D. 655. Penda is defeated and killed at Winwidfield,
(probably Winmoor, near Leeds,) by Oswy of North-
umberland (Bretwalda). " Thirty men of royal race fell
with him, and some of them were kings."

Peada, son of Penda, succeeds in Mercia^ under the
auspices of Oswy. By their joint exertions, the Mercians
become Christians p.

Oswy and Peada in concert begin to build the abbey
of Medeshamstede (afterwards Peterborough) "to the
glory of God and the honour of St. Peter 1."

Oswy unites Deira to Bernicia, on the death of
Adelwald.

A.D. 657. Peada of Mercia is killed at Easter. WULF-
HERE, his brother, succeeds.

A.D. 658. Cenwalch defeats the Britons at Penn.

A.D. 661. Wulfhere of Mercia ravages Wessex and the
isle of Wight. " And Eoppa, the mass-priest (chaplain),

P The conversion of the people made little progress whilst Penda reigned,
but in 656 Diuma was consecrated bishop of Mercia ; he was a Scottish
priest brought in by Oswy, and died in 658.

9 A very long and questionable account of this transaction is to be found
in a copy of the Saxon Chronicle, which appears to have belonged to the
abbey of Peterborough ; in the same manuscript there are several other
notices of Medeshamstede, or Burh, and charters are cited, some of which
are of doubtful authority.

58 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 66l —

by the command of Wilferth ' and King Wulfhere, first
of men brought baptism to the people of Wight."

A.D. 664. Egbert succeeds in Kent.
A great pestilence in Britain.

A synod held at Streoneshealh (now Whitby), at
which Wilfrid advocates the Roman Easter; Colman,
the Scottish bishop, retires.

Wilfrid is appointed to the see of York.

A.]). 667. Wigheard, a priest, sent to Rome by Kings
Oswy and Egbert, to be consecrated archbishop of Can-
terbury. He died soon after his arrival, and Theodore
of Tarsus was ordained in his stead, March 26, 668.

A.D. 668. Theodore arrives in Britain. He is en-
throned at Canterbury, May 27, 669.

A.D. 670. Death of Oswy of Northumbria, Feb. 15,
Egfrid, his son, succeeds.

AJ). 672. Death of Cenwalch of Wessex ; Sexburga,
his queen, reigns for a year after him.

A.D. 673. Egbert of Kent dies, in July.
The synod of Hertford held, Sept. 24, at which
canons are made for the English Church. Winfrid,
bishop of Mercia, is deposed, probably for resisting the
division of his vast diocese ".

Bishops' sees established at Domnoc (Dunwich) and
Elmham, in East Anglia.

A.D. 674. EscwiN, a kinsman of Cenwalch, succeeds in
Wessex.

A.D.675. Death of Wulfhere of Mercia; Ethelred suc-
ceeds.

' Or Wilfrid, then abbot of Ripon-, afterwards the well-known archbishop
of York. See a.d. 678.

• The project, however, was only gradually carried out. Seaxwulf, abbot
of Peterborough, who succeeded Winfrid, agreed to the partition, contenting
himself with Lichfield, the capital of Mercia, and sees were founded at
Hereford in 676, at Lindisse in 678, and at Worcester and Leicester in 680.
The see of Leicester^ was removed to Dorchester (near Oxford) about 200
years after, and Lindisse was absorbed by the united sees about 956. The
first Norman bishop, Remigius, removed the see to Lincoln (probablv in
X078), where it still continues. Lindisse is believed to be represented by
Stow in Lindsey, Lincolnshire, where a church with traces of Saxon archi-
tecture remains.

A.D. 68l.] THE HEPTARCHY. 59

A.D. 676. Escwin of Wessex dies ; Centwine, son of
Cynegils, succeeds.

Ethelred of Mercia ravages Kent.

A.D. 677. Egfrid takes Lincoln from the Mercians.

A.D. 678. Wilfrid driven from his bishopric *.

A.D. 679. Battle near the Trent between the Mercians
and Northumbrians ; Elfwine, brother of Egfrid, is
killed. Theodore, archbishop of Canterbury, mediates
a peace.

A.D. 680. A synod of Heathfield (Hatfield, in Hertford-
shire), Sept. 17, against the Monothelites ; at which also
the division of the Mercian diocese was probably com-
pleted.

A.D. 680 (circa). A code regulating legal proceedings,
issued by Lothaire and Edric in Kent ".

A.D. 681. The Picts subject to the Northumbrians, and
Trumwine appointed their bishop.

Wilfrid converts the South Saxons.

» Wilfrid, the introducer of the practice of carrying appeals to Rome,
bom about 630, was educated at the court of Northumbna, and, adopting
the priestly profession, went to Rome in 654, and on his return became
tutor to the son of Oswy ; he received from his royal patron the monastery
of Ripon, and having at the synod of Whitby powerfully supported the
Roman views, he was appointed to the archbishopric of York, which had
remained unoccupied since the withdrawal of Paulinus. He then passed
over into Gaul, to iE^lbert, bishop of Paris (formerly bishop of the West
Saxons) ; but during his absence Chad was appointed to York, and Wilfrid,
on his return, after assuming the power to appoint priests and deacons in
Kent, in the vacancy of the see of Canterbury, before the arrival of
Theodore, found himself obliged to retire to^ Ripon. In 669, however,
Chad resigned Ybrk to him, and Wilfrid held it till 678, but having given
offence by his pompous style of living, he was then driven out, and his
vast diocese, which comprised the whole Northumbrian kingdom, was di-
vided into the dioceses of York, Lindisfame, and Hexham. Wilfrid now
appealed to Rome, (passing the winter among the^ pagans of Friesland
on his journey), and obtained a papal decree in his favour, but it was
disregarded ; he then visited the heathen South Saxons, and converted
them. At length, in 687, a portion of his diocese was restored, and he
was established at Hexham, but was again driven out in 691, and spent
several years in Mercia. In 702 or 703 he again repaired to Rome, ob-
tained another decree in his favour in 705, and passed the few remaining
years of his life as bishop of Hexham ; ^ dying at Oundle, in 709, he was
buried in the monastery of Ripon. Being canonized, he became a popu-
lar saint in the north of England, where about thirty churches are still
found dedicated to his memory.

• See section on Anglo-Saxon Laws.

6o THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 682—

A.D. 682. Centwine of Wessex has much success against
the Britons.

A.D. 684. The Northumbrians ravage the eastern part
of Ireland ; " and miserably they plundered and burned
the churches of God."

A.D. 686. Egfrid of Northumbria is killed, May 20, in
war against the Picts, who in part recover their lands.
Ald FRITH, his brother, succeeds.

A.D. 686. Ceadwalla of Wessex, and his brother Mul *,
ravage Kent.

A.D. 687. Lothaire of Kent is killed, Feb.

Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfame, dies, March 20 y.
Mul with twelve comrades is burned in his quarters
in Kent, and Ceadwalla again ravages the country.

A.D.688. Ceadwalla goes to Rome, is baptized by the
name of Peter, and dies seven days after, April 20. Ina,
a distant kinsman, succeeds in Wessex.

* The meaning is doubtful, but Mr. Kemble, the eminent Saxon scholar,
takes it to imply that he was of mixed blood, a "mule" — t.e. having a
British mother.

y Cuthbert, originally a shepherd-boy, became a inonk of Melrose, then
prior of Lindisfame, and afterwards long led the life of a hermit on an
islet on the Northumbrian coast In 685 he was consecrated bishop of
Lindisfame, but he resigned the see soon after, and again retired to his
hermitage, where he died March 20th, 687. His remains were buried at
Lindisfame, whence, in consequence of the ravages of the Northmen, they
were removed in 875, and after various wanderings they found a resting-
place on the hill where now stands the cathedral of Durham. In 1Z04
they were solemnly translated to the i)resent edifice, being, it is affirmed,
found uncomipt, and the splendid shrine that was raised over them con-
tinued to attract its crowds of pil^ims until its destruction in the year
1537. The bodv, still unchanged it is said, was after the lapse of five
years re-interred on the site of the shrine, and now reposes under a plain
blue marble slab in the chapel of the Nine Altars, as was ascertained by
an antiquarian examination made in the year 1827. Dry bones only,
swathed in a. number of richly embroidered garments, were found on the
latter occasion, instead of the perfect body said to have been seen by
former explorers ; the^ coffin also contained a golden cross and some other
articles wnose connexion with the saint is uncertain.

St. Cuthbert was an exceedingly popular saint in the north of England,
and miracles without number were ascribed to him, so that he was com-
monly known by the name of the Wonder-worker ; his festival was cele-
brated on the 2oth of March. More than sixty churches exist dedicated to
him ; he was indeed regarded as the patron of the North, and the banner
of St. Cuthbert (of red velvet embroidered with green silk and gold, and
inclosine relics,) was borne not onl}^ at solemn ceremonials (as before
Richaralll. at York) but also to war, at least as late as Uie battle of
Flodden field.

A.D. 704.] THE HEPTARCHY. 61

A.D. 690. Benedict Biscop dies % Feb.
Theodore of Tarsus dies, Sept. 29. Berhtwald suc-
ceeds in 692 in the see of Canterbury. " Before this the
bishops had been Romans*, but from this time they
were English."

A.D. 692. Two kings, Wihtr^d and Webheard or Suaeb-
hard, reign in Kent.

A.D. 694. The Kentish men compound with Ina of
Wessex for the death of Mul ^.

WiHTRED becomes sole king in Kent, and at the
council of Baccancelde (Bapchild) he grants a charter
securing many immunities to the churches and monas-
teries of his kingdom.

A.D. 696^ Wihtred of Kent forbids idolatry, and
Sunday labour *•'.

A.D. 697. Ostrith, queen of Ethelred of Mercia, and
sister of Egfrid of Northumbria, is slain by the Mercians.

A.D. 699. The Picts revolt, and kill Beorht, their
ealdorman.

A.D. 704. Ethelred of Mercia becomes a monk. Coen-
RED succeeds, before June 13.

■ Benedict, the founder of the celebrated monasteries of Wearmouth and
Jarrow, was a Northumbrian noble, who at an early age devoted himself
and all his possessions to the service of the Church. He made several
journeys abroad, and brought back with him not only books and picture?
and relics, but workmen in stone and in glass, so that the edifices that
he raised, and over which he presided, surpassed auYthine that had before
been accomplished in church architecture in Britain. He^ also brought
with him John the Precentor, to instruct his community in the Roman
mode of celebrating divine service^ and he himself became the tutor of
Bede. He was formerly commemorated in the English Church on the
i2th of January, and many churches exist dedicated to St. Benedict, but
whether Benedict Biscop or Benedict of Nursia is meant, in any particular
case, it seems impossible to decide, though we may well believe that the
eminent Northumorian was not neglected m his own country.

■ So says the Saxon Chronicle ; but this is an error, as Frithona, a native,
who took the name of Deusdedit, held the see from 655 to 664.

>> The various MSS. of the Saxon Chronicle differ as to the amount of
this composition, some naming 30 pounds, others 30,000, without saying
what. Mr. Kemble considers 30,000 sceats, equal to 120 pounds, the real
sum, such being the weregild, or money compensation, tor the death of
a royal person.

" See section on Anglo-Saxon Laws.

62 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 705 —

A.D. 706. Aldfrith of Northumbria dies, Dec. 14. OSRED
his son succeeds.

The West Saxon diocese divided into the two sees
of Winchester and Sherborne.

^ A.D. 709. Coenred of Mercia retires to Rome, and dies
there. Ceolred succeeds.

Offa of East Anglia goes to Rome.
Death of Wilfrid, at Oundle ^
A.D. 710. Ina of Wessex defeats the Britons.
A.D. 716. War between Wessex and Mercia.
AJD.716. Osred of Northumbria slain. Cenred suc-
ceeds.

Ceolred of Mercia dies. Ethelbald succeeds.
Egbert, a priest, " converted the monks in the island
of Hii (lona) to right*, so that they observed Easter duly,
and the ecclesiastical tonsure."
A.D. 721. Ina of Wessex kills Cynewulf the atheling'.
Three victories of the Britons over the Saxons, in
Cornwall and in Glamorganshire, recorded in the Chro-
nicle of the Princes of Wales.

A.D. 722. Ina drives out Aldbriht the atheling, who
finds refuge in Sussex. Ina, in consequence, makes war
on the South Saxons.

A.D. 726. Death of Wihtred of Kent, April 23. Ead-
BERT succeeds.

Ina defeats the South Saxons, and kills Aldbriht
the atheling.

A.D.728. Ina dies at Rome. Ethelheard succeeds in
Wessex.
A.D. 729. Egbert the priest dies in lona, April 25.
Osric of Northumbria dies. May 9. Ceolwulf suc-
ceeds.
A.D. 735. Death of the Venerable Bede, May 26.

^ d The exact date is somewhat uncertain ; April 34 is given by one autho-
rity, October 12 by another. • See a.d. 565.

' A general title for members of the royal race, like " prince of the blood "
in modem times.

A.D. 75^.] THE HEPTARCHY. 63

A.D. 737. Queen Frythogith of Wessex goes to Rome.
Ceolwulf of Northumbria receives the tonsure. Ead-
BERT, his cousin, succeeds.

Ethelbald of Mercia ravages Northumbria.

A.D. 739 or 740. Ethelheard of Wessex dies. CUTHRED
succeeds.

A.D. 741. The minster at York burnt, April 23.

A.D. 743. The Mercians and West Saxons make a joint
attack on the Welsh.

A.D. 746. Selred of Mercia is slain.

A.D. 747. The synod of Cloveshoosf held, early in
September.

A.D. 748. Eadbert of Kent dies. Ethelbert II. succeeds.
Cynric, the atheling of Wessex, is slain.

A.D. 749^. Aelfwald of East Anglia dies.

A.D. 752. Cuthred of Wessex defeats Ethelbald of
Mercia at Burford.

A.D. 753. Cuthred also defeats the Welsh.

A.D. 754 or 755. Cuthbert of Mercia dies. Sigebert suc-
ceeds.

Canterbury burnt.

A.D. 755. Sigebert is deprived of the whole of his
kingdom except Hampshire, by his kinsman Cynewulf
and the witan.

A.D.757. Ethelbald of Mercia is killed. Offa II. suc-
ceeds, driving out Beomred who had " obtained the king-
dom, and held it a little while and unhappily."

A.]). 758. Eadbert of Northumbria becomes a monk.
OswuLF succeeds.

Oswulf of Northumbria is slain by his household
July 25.

8 The place Is unknown, but it was somewhere under Mercian influence,
and probablv near London.

>> From about a.d. 750 to 850, there is a difference generally of two or
three years between the chronology of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and that
of Simeon of Durham. The latter appearing to agree better with existing
charters, has been preferred. The points in question will be found ably
discussed in the Introduction to " Monumenta/' and in the Preface to the
Master of the Rolls' edition of '* Hovedcn."

64 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 759 —

A.D.759. Ethelwald (also styled MolP) after a time
succeeds in Northumbria.

A.D.760. Ethelbert II. of Kent dies.

A.D. 761. Ethelwald kills Oswine, one of his great men,
at Edwin's cliffy, Aug. 6.

Ceolwulf of Northumbria, who had received the
tonsure, dies.

A.D. 765. Ethelwald resigns the crown of Northumbria.
Alchred succeeds.

A.]). 768. Eadbert of Northumbria, who had become
a monk, dies Aug. 20.

" The Easter of the Britons was altered by the com-
mand of Elbot, a man of God K"

A.D. 771. Offa of Mercia makes war on Kent.

A.D. 774. Alchred of Northumbria expelled by his sub-
jects. Ethelred, son of Ethelwald, succeeds.
The Kentish men defeated by Offa at Otford.

A.D. 776. South Wales ravaged by Offa.

A.D. 777. Offa makes war on Wessex, and defeats
Cynewulf at Bensington, in Oxfordshire.

A.D. 779. Alfwold expels Ethelred from Northumbria,
and reigns in his stead.

"In the summer the Welsh devastated the territory
of Offa, and Offa caused a dyke to be made as a bound-
ary between him and Wales, to enable him the more
easily to withstand the attack of his enemies "* ; and that
is called Offa's dike from that time to this day. And it
extends from one sea to the other, from the south near
Bristol towards the north above Flint, between the
monastery of Basingwerk and ColeshiU °."

« See A.D. 687.

^ Perhaps Edwinstowe, in Nottinghamshire, but more probably Edin-
burgh.

I Chronicle of the Princes of Wales. That is, made conformable to the
Roman usage.

™ Some modem writers represent the dike as made to secure a tract of
land that Offa had conc^uered from the WeUh, and so a mark of his power.

° Chronicle of the Pnnces of Wales.

A.D. 794.] THE NORTHMEN. 65

A.D. 786. Cynewulf of Wessex is killed at Merantun
(Merdon, in Hampshire,) by the brother of Sigebert**,
Cyneheard, who is himself killed shortly after. Brihtric,
the son of Cynewulf, succeeds, and drives his kinsman
Egbert, the rightful heir, into exile. .

A.D. 787. A synod held at Calchythe p, when Lichfield
is raised to the dignity of an archbishopric.

Brihtric of Wessex marries Edburga, daughter of
Offa of Mercia.

The Northmen commence their ravages in England "i.
A synod held at Pincanheale, in Northumbria, (pro-
bably Finchale, near Durham), September 2.

A.D.788. Alfwold of Northumbria is slain, Sept. 24.
OSRED, son of Alchred, succeeds.

A.]). 790. Osred of Northumbria driven out; Ethelred
resumes the government.

A.D. 791. Alfwold's sons put to death.

A.D. 792. Ethelbert of East Anglia slain, and his do-
minions seized by Offa of Mercia.

Osred, attempting to regain the Northumbrian crown,
is slain, Sept. 14.

THE NORTHMEN.

A.D.794. The church at Lindisfarne destroyed by the
Northmen, Jan. 8.

" The heathens ravaged among the Northumbrians,
and plundered Egfrid's monastery at Donemouth (Jar-
row), and one of their leaders was slain, and also some
of their ships were wrecked by a tempest, and many

o See A.D. ^55.

P Where this was is somewhat uncertain ; Chalk, in Kent, and Culcheth,
in Lancashire, have been named, but it is considered most probable that
Chelsea was the place.

«i The expression in the Saxon Chronicle is merely, " in his (Brihtric's)
days first came three ships of Northmen, out of Hsretha-land ' (Western
Norway), but as the event is mentioned under the year 787) writers are
generally agreed in assigning it to that date.

66 THE SAXON ERA.

of them were there drowned, and some came on shore
alive, and they were soon slain at the river's mouth."

These acts of mutual atrocity were the commence-
ment of the deadly struggle which convulsed England
for the remainder of the Saxon rule ; a struggle, how-
ever, which is often misunderstood. There seems no
good reason for supposing that the Northmen committed
greater devastation than the heathen Saxons had done
three centuries before ; but as Anglo-Saxon literature
survived the tempest, whilst the British generally speak-
ing did not, a more detailed account of the Northmen's
excesses has come down to us. Indeed, an inference
directly contrary to the received opinion has been drawn
by a distinguished Danish writer, from the fact that
very many of the rovers not only embraced Christianity
in England, but laboured to diffuse its light on their
return to their own countries '.

The contemporary accounts of the appearance, the
arms, and equipments of the men who now began so
signally to influence the fortunes of England' are but
few, and antiquaries are by no means agreed in their
interpretation of them. Anglo-Saxon MSS. abound with
illuminations in which figures of armed men appear, but
it is often not clear whether Saxons or Northmen are
meant, and the reference sometimes made to the Bayeux
tapestry is beside the question, the work being centuries

' Among them may be mentioned Hacon, who had dwelt in the court of
Athelstan, and who returning to Norway laboured unsuccessfully to intro-
duce Christianity, but was killed in 960 ; and Anlaf Try^^gveson, who ap-
plied himself to the same end with more zeal than discretion, and also lost
his life in the attemi>t. AnlaPs great counsellor was Thangbrand, who, call-
ing himself a Christian priest, went about with a shield on which was em-
l)Ossed a representation of the crucifixion, and repaid the taunts of the idol-
aters by killing several of their number. He sold his shield to Anlaf, by
whom it was regarded as a kind of talisman^ and also imparted some know-
ledge of Christianity to that king before his expedition to England in the
yearo94.

■ They also established themselves in Ireland, and in the Orkneys, Shet-
lands, Hebrides, and Man, but their frequent attempts on the mauiland of
Scotland were less successful, though they gained a footing in Caithness
and Sutherland.

THE NORTHMEN. 67

too late. The Irish Chronicles (much nearer in point
of time than the Icelandic Sagas) contain many notices
of the invaders, and speak of those who came to Ireland
as consisting of two distinct classes, Finngalls (Fair
strangers, Swedes and Norwegians), and Dubhgalls (Dark
strangers, Danes), the latter being the latest to arrive,
and then establishing a superiority over their precursors.
The reference is probably to the different complexions
of the peoples, but this is not certain.

There are to be found in most of our early writers
passages which shew that the Northmen were supposed
to owe much of their success to the superiority of their
weapons, and such would appear really to have been
the case*. It was, in heathen times especially, a very
common custom to bury his arms with the warrior ; and
as numberless graves have been opened of which the
nation and era can from various circumstances be ac-
curately ascertained, we thus get unimpeachable evidence
as to the arms of the vikings.

In England the vikings' tombs are with difficulty
to be distinguished from those of their opponents, but
they are readily recognised in Ireland. Confining our
attention to recent discoveries in the latter country, we
learn that the Vikings carried heavy axes, spears and
swords of large size, as well as daggers, bows and
arrows ; the swords are furnished with a guard, often
inlaid with gold, and sometimes have runic inscriptions ;
shields too are found of wood strengthened with an iron
boss, often ornamented with lines curved and curiously
interlaced, but of defensive armour there appears little
trace". It is stated in the Sagas that the chiefs had

*■ Nowhere, perhaps, is diis more strongly expressed than in the " Wars
of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," an Irish MS. of the eleventh century, trans-
lated by the late Dr. Todd, and published among the *' Chronicles and
Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland " under Uie care of the Master
of the Rolls.

<* In tombs in Denmark are also found bronze armlets of a spiral form
a foot long, which appear strong enough to resist a sword cut, and are be-
lieved to have been wor-^ coiled round the arm for that purpose.

68 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 795—

coats of chain-mail sewn on leather, and helmets with
nose-pieces ; the common men seem to have been pro-
tected only by pieces of hide sewn on their ordinary
coarse clothing.

The ships of the vikings were probably at first not at
all superior to those of the early Saxons, but before the
time that the Northmen established their sway in Eng-
land they were possessed of vessels in which certainly
Iceland and Greenland, and probably the American con-
tinent, could be reached in safety. Their kings, too,
if we could trust the glowing descriptions of the Sagas,
had their Long Snakes and Dragons adorned with carv-
ing, and magnificently ornamented with gilded masts,
embroidered sails, and purple cordage ; but it is pro-
bable that this rather represents the royal vessels of
more southern nations some three centuries later, than
anything that was seen in the North before the abandon-
ment of the vikings' expeditions.

IRELAND.

A.D. 795. The *' black pagans," repulsed from South
Wales, sail to Ireland, and destroy Rechreyn*.

This is the first recorded hostile visit of the North-
men to Ireland, but it is probable that their merchants
had established themselves in the country before. Cer-
tain it is, that many Ostman^ settlements existed along
the coast a few years after, which seem to have been
independent of each other, and sometimes hostile*, but
the natives, from the inferiority of their arms, were un-

* Lambay, an island near Dublin, and not Raghlin, on the north-east
coast, as usually supposed. This correction is due to Dr. Reeves, whose
" Life of Adanman clears up many doubtful points of early Irish history
and topography.

7 Ostman, or Eastman, probably as coming from the opposite coasts of
England and Scotland, rather than direct from the North.

■ An Irish Chronicle mentions, under the year 852, that the Dark
strangers came to Dublin, destroyed the colony of the Fair strangers,
and carried many, of them into captivity.

A.D. 796.] IRELAND. 69
t

able to expel them. After a time, Anlaf the White, a
Dane, who arrived with a powerful fleet at Dublin, was
acknowledged as chief by all the Ostmen. He so firmly
established their power, that from that period to the
time of the English conquest, not only from Irish autho-
rities, but by their coins, a constant succession of Danish
kings can be traced in Dublin, and for a great part of
the time also in Waterford, Cork, and Limerick. They
eventually became Christian, and had bishops of their
own, who received consecration at Canterbury', while
the native Irish prelates acknowledged the supremacy
of the archbishop of Armagh.

The Ostman settlements are still the most important
and commercial cities of Ireland, and indeed they would
seem to have been selected quite as much with mer-
cantile as political views. Each "kingdom" appears to
have consisted in reality of but a single strongly forti-
fied town and a small surrounding district, and its
power was chiefly maritime ; but from being better fur-
nished with ships and arms, and more skilled in their
use, its people possessed a preponderating influence over
the adjacent country somewhat similar to that of Euro-
pean colonies in the East in more recent times.

A.D. 796. Edbert, surnamed Praen^, becomes king in Kent.
Ethelred of Northumbria is killed by Wada and
others, April 19. Eardwulf succeeds to the kingdom.
May 14* ; is crowned at York, May 26.

*■ Patrick was consecrated to Dublin in 1074 by Lanfranc, as was his suc-
cessor Donagh in 1085. The consecrations of Samuel of Dublin (1096),
Malchus of Waterford (1096), Gregory of Dublin (1121), and Patrick of
Limerick (1140), all took place at Canterbury before the invasion of Ireland
by De Clare and his associates.

•» A priest. He had been ordained, but being of the royal blood, was
chosen to succeed on the death of Ealhmund, whose son Egbert had been
driven into exile by Brihtric.

^ In the interval, Osbald, a noble, had usurped the throne, but after a
reign of 27 days he was driven out, and obliged to submit to the tonsure.

70 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 796 —

Offa of Mercia dies, July 29. Egferth, his successor,
dies shortly after. Cynulf becomes king.

A.D. 797. Siric, tributary king of East Anglia, goes
to Rome.

A.D. 798. Cynulf ravages Kent ; he takes Praen pri-
soner, and multilates him.

Wada, having rebelled against Eardwulf, is defeated
and put to flight at Hwealleage or Billingahoth (Whalley,
in Lancashire,) April 2.
London burnt.

Man and the Hebrides ravaged by the Northmen.
A.D. 800. The Empire of the West re-established by
the coronation of Charlemagne, Dec. 25.

A.D. 802. Brihtric of Wessex dies •* ; Egbert is chosen
to succeed him.

EGBERT.

Egbert, the fourth in descent from Ingils, brother of
Ina, and the son of Ealhmund, sub-king of Kent, being
banished by Brihtric, sought refuge at the court of
Charlemagne, and was in his company at Rome when
the French king received the dignity of emperor of the
West. On the death of Brihtric, Egbert was recalled
to Wessex, and ascended the throne. He warred suc-
cessfully with the Britons, and thus increased the power
of his kingdom while the other Saxon states were falling
into ruin from their ceaseless dissensions. At length
in 821* he commenced a formal course of conquest,
which in the course of a few years made him sole
monarch, when he granted Kent to his son Ethelwulf,
but allowed the more remote states of Mercia, East
Anglia, and Northumbria to be ruled by tributary kings. *

«• He was poisoned by his wife Edburga. She retired first to France, then
to Italy, and died miserably at Pa via.

• According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 819 ; but there seems reason
to believe that there is an error of two or three years in some of its entries
about this time.

A.D. 825.] EGBERT. 7 1

This change being accomplished in the year 828, the
ancient title of "Bretwalda" seems to have been re-
vived, but Egbert dates the years of his ducatus from

I 816. He married Redburga, a lady whose parentage

I is not ascertained, and left by her, — Ethelwulf, his suc-

cessor in the monarchy ; Athelstan, who is styled king

^ of Kent ; and Ethelbald. Egbert died most probably

in the year 839, but different MSS. of the Anglo-Saxon

i Chronicle ascribe the length of 36, 37, and 38 years to

his reign.

The arms " Azure, a cross patonce or," have been as-
cribed to Egbert ; but it is now generally agreed that
any thing resembling personal heraldic bearings was unv
known till the twelfth century.

A.D. 802. The Hwiccians ', a people of Mercia, invade
Wessex, but are defeated by the men of Wiltshire at
Kempsford.

A.D. 807. Cuthred of Kent dies.

A.D. 808. Eardwulf of Northumbria, driven from his
kingdom, retires to the court of Charlemagne.

The Northmen plunder Hii, and murder the monks.
They repair to Ireland the next year, and advance far
inland, plundering the churches and monasteries.

A.D. 815. " Egbert laid waste West Wales (Devon and
Cornwall) from eastward to westward."

A.D. 817. The English school ^ at Rome burnt.*

A.D. 821. Cenwulf of Mercia dies. Ceolwulf succeeds.

A.D. 823. Ceolwulf of Mercia deprived of his kingdom.
Beomwulf succeeds.

A.D. 826. Egbert defeats Beomwulf of Mercia at Ellen-
dune (near Wilton).

' Inhabiting the modem counties of Gloucester and Monmouth.^

t This served not only as a school, but as a place of entertainment for

the English pilgrims; it was situate near St.±*eter's, but had its own

church, dedicated to St Mary.

72 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 825—-

Ethelwulf, son of Egbert, drives Baldred of Kent
beyond the Thames.

A.D. 826. " The men of Kent, and the men of Surrey,
and the South Saxons and the East Saxons, submitted
to Egbert ; for formerly they had been unjustly forced
from him. And the same year the king of the East
Angles and the people sought the alliance and protec-
tion of King Egbert for dread of the Mercians ; and
the same year the East Angles slew Beornwulf, king
of Mercia."

A.D. 828. Ludeca of Mercia is slain. Wiglaf succeeds.
" King Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mer-
cians, and all that was south of the Humber ; and he
was the eighth king who was Bretwalda .... And Eg-
bert led an army to Dore (near Dronfield, Derbyshire,)
against the Northumbrians, and there they offered him
obedience and allegiance, and with that they separated."

A.D. 830. Wiglaf re-obtains Mercia, as a tributary to
Egbert.

Egbert makes war successfully on the North Welsh.
A Northman, called Turgesius (probably Thorkill),
comes to Ireland. He conquers both the natives and
the Strangers, and establishes himself at Armagh *», where
he endeavours to introduce paganism.

A.D. 832. The Northmen ravage Shepey.

A.D. 836. The Northmen defeat Egbert at Carrum
(Charmouth in Dorsetshire).

A.D.837. The Northmen unite with the West Welsh
(the Britons in Cornwall and Devon), but are defeated
at Hengestdown, in Cornwall, by Egbert.

A.D. 838 (circa). The Northmen establish themselves
in Dublin.

A.D. 839. Egbert dies. Ethelwulf succeeds.

i> Armagh was then, as it is now, the ecclesiastical metropolis of Ireland.

A.D. 840.] SCOTLAND AND WALES. 73

ETHELWULF.

Ethelwulf is said, though on very doubtful autho-
rity, to have been designed for the Church, but at his
father's death he succeeded to the kingdom, and granted
the administration of the southern and eastern portions
to his brother Athelstan. Ethelwulfs reign is chiefly
remarkable for the ceaseless ravages of the Northmen,
and his own journey to Rome, and liberal benefactions
to the Church. By his first wife, Osburga, the daughter
of Oslac, of the stem of Cerdic, he left four sons, who
all became kings, and two daughters. His second mar-,
riage, and the coronation of his young queen, Judith,
gave deep offence to his subjects, and he was obliged
to cede the greater part of his dominions to his eldest
son. Ethelwulf died shortly after, and was buried at
Winchester*.

A.D. 839. Athelstan, brother of Ethelwulf, rules the
country of Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and Essex.

" This year there was great slaughter at London, and
at Cwantawic (probably Canterbury) and Rochester."

The Northmen defeated at Southampton ; they are
successful at Portland.
A.D. 840. Wiglaf of Mercia dies. Beorhtwulf succeeds.

Kent, East Anglia, and Lincolnshire ravaged by the
Northmen.

Ethelwulf defeated at Carrum (Charmouth) by the
Northmen.

SCOTLAND AND WALES.

About the time that the states of the Heptarchy were
brought under one head by Egbert, similar changes were

» In the medal room of the British Museum is preserved an interesting
memento of this king. It is a gold ring bearine his name, and having
the cavities filled with a bluish-black enamel. It was found in a cart-
rut in the parish of Laverstock, in Hampshire, and its weight is 11 dwts.
14 grains.

74 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 842 —

effected among the other nations of the island. The
Scots closed a long struggle by the total subjugation of
the Picts, and thus laid the foundation of the North
British monarchy. The lands occupied by the uncon-
quered Britons beyond the Severn and the Wye had
long been in a state of anarchy, there being as many
kings as districts, but in the year 840, Roderic (after-
wards known as the Great), the descendant of the last
chief rulers of the northern and eastern districts, suc-
ceeded to power, and marrying the heiress of the south
he brought the whole country under his hand. He, how-
ever, undid his own work by again dividing it among his
three sons, giving Gwynneth (North Wales) to Anarawd,
Dynevor (South Wales) to Cadel, and Pow}'s (the eastern
portion, then extending far into what is now reckoned
England) to Mervin ^, Roderic ordained that Gwynneth
should be the paramount stated to which the others
should pay tribute, but this arrangement did not long
endure. Mervin being killed by the Northmen, Powys
was seized by the ruler of Dynevor, and that state, under
Howel Dda, about 910 became the chief kingdomi

A.D. 842. (circa). The Scots, under Kenneth II., subdue
the Picts.

A.D. 845. The Northmen defeated at the mouth of the
Parret by the bishop Ealstan of Sherborne and Osric the
ealdorman.

Turgesius is killed in Ireland.

A.D. 851. The Northmen defeated in Devonshire; Athel-
stan also defeats them at sea, near Sandwich.

k These princes and their successors are often styled in the Welsh Chro-
nicles, from the names of their capitals, the kin^ of Aberfraw (in Anglesey),
of Cardigan, and of Mathraval (near Meivod, m Montgomeryshire), in the
same way as their contemporaries, the English kings, are called the kings of
London. The South Wales state was the largest ; but the greater part of
its territory was held by the lords of Dyved (Pembroke), Wu>rganwg (Gla-
morgan) and Gwent (the district on the Severn and Wye), who were only
nommal dependants on the king of Cardigan.

A.p. 855.] ETHELWULF. 75

"This year the heathen men, for the first time, re-
mained over winter in Thanet.

"And the same year came 350 ships to the mouth
of the Thames, and the crews landed and took Canter-
bury and London by storm, and put to flight Beorhtwulf,
king of the Mercians, with his army, and then went south
over the Thames into Surrey ; and there King Ethel-
wulf and his son Ethelbald, with the army of the West
Saxons, fought against them at Ockley, and there made
the greatest slaughter among the heathen army that we
have heard tell of unto the present day, and there got
the victory."

Athelstan of Kent dies.

Anlaf ' THE White attempts in vain to levy tribute
on the Northmen in Ireland.

A.D. 852. Beorhtwulf of Mercia dies ; Burgred suc-
ceeds.

A.D. 853 or 854. Ethelwulf assists the Mercians against
the North Welsh.

The Northmen in Thanet unsuccessfully attacked by
Ealhere and Huda, the ealdormen of Kent and Surrey,
who are both killed.

Burgred marries Athelswith, the daughter of Ethel-
wulf.

A.D. 855. " This year the heathen men, for the first time,
remained over winter in Shepey."

" King Ethelwulf gave by charter the tenth part of
his land throughout his realm for the glory of God and
his own eternal salvation ". And the same year he went

' The same name as Olaf or Olaus. It was very common in the North,
and for that reason great confusion has hitherto prevailed concerning several
of the Northman invaders of Britain and Ireland. The researches of the
Rev. Dr. Todd, in his translation of the Wars of the Gael, have however
thrown much light on the subject, and Anlafs who lived a century apart from
each other need no longer be confounded.

"» This grant, which is only to be taken as a proof of the personal piety
of Ethelwulf, in bestowing a tenth of his private estate on the Church, is
often incorrectly spoken of as if it were the origin of tithes in England. See
notice of Anglo-Saxon Laws.

76 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 855—

to Rome in great state, and dwelt there twelve months,
and then returned homewards."

A.D. 866. Ethelwulf marries Judith, daughter of Charles,
king of the Franks (Charles the Bald), Oct. i.

Anlaf establishes his supremacy, and is styled king
of Dublin.

A.D. 867. Ethelwulf parts his kingdom with his son.

A.D. 858. Ethelwulf dies, January 13, and is buried at
Winchester.

ETHELBALD and ETHELBERT.

The two elder sons of Ethelwulf shared his dominions
between them. Ethelbald, who only survived two years,
is chiefly remarkable for his incestuous marriage with
Judith, his father's widow, by whom, however, he left no
issue. Ethelbert contended vigorously with the IJorth-
men until his death in 866, and left two sons : Ethel wald,
who afterwards by leaguing with the invaders made him-
self for a short time king in Northumbrian; and Adhelm,
of the events of whose life no record has been preserved.

A.D. 858. Ethelbald succeeds in Wessex, and Ethelbert
in the rest of Ethel wulf's dominions.

A.D. 860. Ethelbald dies, and is buried at Sherborne ;

" and Ethelbert succeeded to all the realm of his brother,

and he held it in godly concord and in great tranquillity."

The Northmen storm Winchester, but are shortly

after defeated.

A.D. 864. The Northmen again winter in Thanet.

A.D. 865. Kent ravaged by the Northmen.
Anlaf ravages the west of Scotland.

A.D. 866. Ethelbert dies early in the year, and is buried
at Sherborne. Ethelred succeeds.

■> See A.D. 90X, 904, 905.

A.D. 870.] ETHELRED. 'J']

ETHELRED.

Ethelred, the third son of Ethelwulf, succeeded, to
the prejudice of his brother's children, but this was not
contrary to the practice of early ages in regard to minors.
He fought nine battles with various success against the
Northmen, and died shortly after Easter, 871. His
brother Alfred was appointed to succeed him, as he left
only young children, from one of whom Ethelwerd the
historian traced his descent.

A.D. 866. Anlaf joins the Northmen in East Anglia ;
they make a truce with the people, and obtain horses
from them.

A.D. 867. The Northmen pass from East Anglia, and
capture York. The Northumbrians, who had expelled
Osbert and chosen a king, Ella, not of the royal blood,
attempt to drive them from York, but are defeated.
Osbert and Ella are both slain, and a truce is made.

A.D. 868. The Northmen pass into Mercia, and possess
themselves of Nottingham, where they are ineffectually
besieged by Ethelred and his brother Alfred ; the Mer-
cians at length make a truce with them.

Anlaf returns to Ireland, and burns Armagh.

A.D. 869. The Northmen retire to York, and remain
there during the year.

A.D. 870. The Northmen pass again into East Anglia,
and take up their winter quarters at Thetford.

" And the same winter King Edmund ° fought against

*> The tributary king of East Anglia. He began his reign over the East
Angles in 855, and is described by Simeon of Durham as a just and holy
man. Having been defeated by the pagans, and captured, he was offered
his life on condition of apostacy, but firmly refusing, he was first cruelly
scourged, then pierced with arrows, and ms head being stricken off was

78 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 870 —

them, and the Danes ^ot the victory and slew the king,
[Nov. 20,] and subdued all the land, and destroyed all
the minsters which they came to. The names of their
chiefs who slew the king were Ingwair and Ubba. At
that same time they came to Medeshamstede (Peter-
borough), and burned and beat it down, slew abbots and
monks, and all that they found there ; and that place,
which before was full rich, they reduced to nothing."

Ethelred, archbishop of Canterbury, endeavours to
expel the secular priests from his cathedral.

Anlaf again invades Scotland, where he captures
Alcluid (Dumbarton).

A.D. STL The Northmen pass into Wessex. They are
defeated at Englefield, but gain the victory three days
later at Reading. They are defeated four days after at
Ashdown, in Berkshire, and fourteen days after are vic-
torious at Basing. "About two months after this, King
Ethelred and Alfred his brother fought against the army
at Meretun (probably Harden, Wiltshire) and they were
in two bodies, and they put both to flight, and during
a great part of the day were victorious, and there was
great slaughter on either hand ; but the Danes had pos-
session of the place of carnage ; and there Bishop Heah-
mund (of Sherborne) was slain, and many good men."

Ethelred, being mortally wounded in the battle, dies,

cast into a thicket. Hence he was reverenced as a saint and martyr, and
is still retained in the Church Calendar. The ancient service contains the
following legend of the discovery of his remains. A party of his friends
having ventured in search of them, ** they went seeking all together, and
constantly calling, as is the wont of those who oft eo into woods, ....
'Where art thou, comrade?' and to them answered the head, 'Here, here,
here.* They all were answered as often as any of them called, until they
all came through the calling to it. There lay the gray wolf that guarded
the head, and with his two feet had the head embraced, greedy and hungry,
and for God duret not taste the head, and held it against wild beasts. Then
were they astonished at the wolf's guardianship, and carried the holy head
home, thanking the Almighty for jul His wonders. But the wolf followed
forth with the head until they came to the town, as if he were tame, and
after that turned into the woods again." The remains were interred at the
place, since called in consequence, Pury St. Edmund's, and many churches
still exist dedicated to St. Edmund, king and martyr.

A.D. 871.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 79

" over Easter p," and is buried at Wimbome. His brother
Alfred succeeds.

ALFRED THE GREAT.

Alfred, the fourth son of Ethelwulf, was born at
Wantage, in Berkshire, in 849. In his fifth year he was
sent to Rome, and was there " consecrated king," by the
Pope, and again visited that city in company with his
father in the year 855. In 868 he married Elswitha, the
daughter of Ethelred, an East Anglian chief, and for the
next three years he was actively engaged in seconding
the efforts of his brother Ethelred against the Northmen.
In 871 his brother's death placed him on the throne, —
his young nephews being passed over — and he continued
the contest with various fortune for seven years, when
the overpowering force of the enemy compelled him to
withdraw to the Isle of Athelney, where he passed the
early months of 878. Soon issuing from his retreat, he
defeated the Northmen, and at length concluded a peace
by which their most powerful chief became in fact king
of the eastern part of the country, but also adopted Chris-
tianity, and swore to assist in the defence of the land
against all new assailants ; an engagement which was
but indifferently observed. The main body of the spoilers,
however, withdrew, and although he had to repel another
attack in 885, Alfred now found leisure not only for valu-
able literary labours *>, but to repair the ravages of war,

p As he met his death from idolaters, King Ethelred was^ considered
a martyr, and was canonized. His commemoration in the ancient English
Church was on April 22, which is therefore most probably the day of his
death, though Florence of Worcester says April 23. A church at Norwich
is still found dedicated to him.

4 Among these may be mentioned, Bede's Ecclesiastical History, the
Geography of Orosius, Boetius on the Consolations of Philosopher, Pope
Gregory's Pastoral, and some portions at least of the Holy Scriptures.
His works, however, are rather of the nature of paraphrases than transla-
tions, as he did not scruple to abridge, add to, or alter, as he found
occasion. To him, with the assistance of Archbishop Plegmund, is also
ascribed, with much probability, the beginning of the systematic compila-
tion of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

8o THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 87 1—

and to form or remodel those admirable political insti-
tutions for which his name is still reverenced '.

The year 893 witnessed a fresh return of the Northmen,
but they were vigorously withstood, and at length ex-
pelled. To secure his coasts the king now constructed
ships better able to cope with those of the enemy than
any that had been before seen in England, and he is
thus regarded as the founder of the royal navy. Alfred's
few remaining years were apparently passed in tran-
quillity, and he died on the 26th October, 901.

Beside other children, who require no particular men-
tion, Alfred left, — Edward, his successor; Ethelfleda,
who as "lady of the Mercians" acted a conspicuous
part ; Elfrida, married to Baldwin II. count of Flanders ' ;
and Ethelgira, who became abbess of Shaftesbury.

A.D. 871. Alfred defeated by the Northmen at Wilton.
Nine other battles are fought in the country south of
the Thames, in which the invaders appear to have
been victorious, as the West Saxons make peace with
them.

Anlaf returns to Ireland with many captives. He
is killed the next year.

A.D. 872. The Northmen take up their winter quarters
in London ; the Mercians make peace with them.

Cameleac consecrated bishop of Llandaff by the
archbishop of Canterbury.

We see from this that the spiritual supremacy of
England extended at this period at least over the south-
eastern part of Wales (Gwent), and it is probable that
political power accompanied it, as when this bishop was
captured by the Northmen, he was, we are told by the

' See notice of Anglo-Saxon Laws.

• Baldwin was the son of Judith, the step-mother of Alfred, and he was
the ancestor of Matilda, the nrst Norman queen of England.

A.D. 876.] ALFRED THE GREAT. 8 1

Saxon Chronicle, ransomed by Edward the Elder, for
40 pounds of silver *.

The Northmen from Ireland ravage the west of
Scotland, but are defeated near the Clyde by Con-
stantine II.

A.D. 873. The Northmen penetrate into Northumbria,
and take up their winter quarters at Torksey, in Lincoln-
shire ; the people make peace with them.

A.D. 874. The Northmen drive out Burgred of Mercia,
and make Ceolwulf, "an unwise king's thane,*' king in
his place. "And he swore oaths to them, and gave
hostages, that it should be ready for them, on whatever
day they would have it ; and that he would be ready in
his own person, and with all who would follow him, for
the behoof of the army ".'*

Burgred goes to Rome,. and dies there. "His body
lies in St. Mary's church in the school of the Angle
race."

A.D. 875. Halfdane, a Northman, ravages Northumbria,
and also spoils the Picts and the Strathclyde Britons.

The bishop's see and the body of St. Cuthbert re-
ifaoved to Chester-le-Street.

Guthrum, a Northman, besieges Grantabridge (Cam-
bridge).

Alfred defeats a fleet of seven ships, capturing one,
and putting the rest to flight.

Many of the Northmen leave Ireland to ravage Eng-
land, France and Germany. The land has thus what
the Irish annalists term "the forty years' rest" until
about A.D. 915, from fresh invasions; but the foreigners
maintain themselves in their possessions, and form al-
liances with the native princes.
A.D. 876. The Northmen besiege Wareham.

* See A.D. 918.

«» Thorpe's translation. He was, however, only allowed to retain a por-
tion, as we read, a. p. 877, " In the autumn, the army went into the
Mercians' land, and divided some of it, and gave some to CeoVioaM"

82 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 8/6—

Alfred makes peace with them, when they "swear
oaths to him on the holy ring ', which they never before
would do to any nation," to leave the kingdom. Their
horsemen, however, take possession of Exeter.

Halfdane apportions the lands of Northumbria among
his followers.

Anglesey ravaged by the Northmen from Ireland,
and Roderic the Great slain.

RoUo and the Northmen overrun Neustria (Nor-
mandy).

A.D. 877. The Northman fleet is wrecked at Swan-
awic (Swanage).

Alfred captures Exeter.

The Northmen apportion Mercia.
A.D. 878. The Northmen suddenly invade Wessex, in
January, and take possession of the country. "Many
of the people they drove beyond sea, and of the re-
mainder the greater part they subdued and forced to
obey them, except King Alfred; and he, with a small
band, with difficulty retreated to the woods arid to the
fastnesses of the moors.'*

Hubba, the brother of Halfdane, lands in Devon-
shire, but is defeated and killed, "and there was taken
the war flag which they called Raven ^."

"And after this, at Easter, [March 23] King Alfred,
with a small band, constructed a fortress at Athelney*,
and from this fortress, with that part of the men of

" Anticmaries differ as to the meaning of this passage. It seems probable
that the Northmen, in their oath, referred to a great ring of silver or ori-
chalc, which Amgrim Jonas (Rer. Islandic. i. j) savs was preserved in
a temple in Iceland, and which was smeared wiUi blood of victims when
they swore to the observance of matters of relieion or public law.

^^ It is remarkable that the Northern sagas do not mention this celebrated
flag, to which magiod powers were ascribed. Professor Worsaae, from
a laborious investigation of all the available authorities, is of opinion that it
was a small triangular banner, fringed, bearing a blacK raven on a blood-
red field.

> Athelney, once an island— the name means the Isle of Nobles — is now
a marshy tract between the rivers Tone and Parret, near Langport, in the
southern part of Somersetshire.

A.D. 878.] THE ANGLO-DANES. 83

Somerset which was nearest to it, from time to time
they fought against the army ^"

The Saxon Chronicle gives no particulars of Alfred's
residence in Athelney, but Asser, his biographer, relates
the well-known tale of the cakes suffered to burn whilst
he prepared his weapons, and also tells us that it was
in consequence of tyrannical conduct on his part, and
neglect of the reproof of his kinsman St. Neot, that the
king was so utterly forsaken by his subjects *.

THE ANGLO-DANES.

Alfred leaves his retreat in May. He defeats the
Northmen at Ethandun (Edington, near Westbury), and
besieges them in their fortress.

The Northmen surrender after a fourteen days' siege,
and give hostages. Guthrum "and some thirty men,
who were of the most distinguished in the army," are
baptized; Guthrum has Alfred for his godfather, and
receives the name of Athelstan.

Alfred makes a peace with the Northmen, ceding to
them a large portion of territory, thus limited : " first,
concerning our land boundaries : up on the Thames,
and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea unto its
source, then right to Bedford, and then up the Ouse into
Watling Street •."

7 A very beautiful specimen of eold enamelled-work is preserved in the
Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, which is commonly known by the name of
Alfred's jewel, as it bears his name, and was found in 1693 in the immediate
neighbourhood of his retreat. It is of filagree work, mclosing a piece of
rock-crystal ; underneath appears a figure in enamel, which has not been
satisfactorily explained. The ground is of a rich blue, the face and arms
of the figure white, the dress principally green, the lower portion partly
of a reddish brown. The inscription is " + Aelfred mec hent gewrcan
( + Alfred ordered me to be made).

' The passage, however, is not improbably an interpolation.

• The other provisions of this treaty declare : " if a man be slain, we
estimate all equally dear, English and Danish, at eight half marks of pure
gold," and at 200 shillings each for the Saxon ceorl and the Danish liesing
or freeman : settle modes of trial, and the warranty " for men, for horses,
and for cattle," and regulate the intercourse between the two armies aivd.
their followers.

84 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D.

By this formal cession of so large a tract, as well as
the loss of what Halfdane already possessed, and held
apparently only by the sword, the sole monarchy es-
tablished by Egbert scarcely fifty years before may be
regarded as broken up. The Anglo-Danes, as they are
now to be called, it is true, professed allegiance to Alfred
and his successors, but they seem never to have yielded
it unless to princes who were able to enforce the claim,
and they were ruled by chiefs whose coins prove them
to have assumed the style of independent kings ^. They
received constant accessions to their numbers in con-
sequence of the attempts made by the kings of Norway
early in the tenth century to render themselves absolute
monarchs, many of the chiefs preferring voluntary exile
to submission, and they thus speedily became in some
districts,* what the Normans afterwards were in the whole
country, a fierce military aristocracy governing without
mercy or discretion a herd of serfs, it being recorded as
a glorious achievement of Edmund I. that he freed the
English inhabitants of certain districts "who had dwelt
long in captive chains to heathen men *^." They also ex-
tended themselves over Mercia, and as that state as
well as their own district had its peculiar laws, the
country was rather three separate kingdoms **, of which
Wessex had occasionally a supremacy over the others,
than one united monarchy, as it is usually represented.
It appears, too, from the names of the witnesses to con-
temporary documents, that the Anglo-Danes soon became

*» In 1840 a hoard of about 7,000 silver coins (beside many silver orna-
ments) was discovered at Cuerdale, near. Preston, in Lancashire, 3,000 of
which bore such inscriptions as '* Cnut Rex," "Alfden Rex," '*Sitric
Comes ; " they are by the best informed numismatists considered indisput-
ably to belong to the chiefs of the Danish invaders in the ninth century,
and their immediate successors.

« See A.D. 941.

* Even in the laws of Henry I. Eneland is recognised as divided, so far
as customary law is concerned, into the three states of Wessex, Mercia,
and the province of the Danes ; the latter province, sometimes styled the
Danelagh, appears to have comprised the whole tract north and east of
the Watling Street.

879—886.] THE ANGLO-DANES. 85

possessed of important posts both in the Church and at
the court of the Anglo-Saxon kings. The divisions thus
introduced into its councils, and the help they constantly
gave to their invading countrymen, reduced the country
to a state of weakness which left it a comparatively easy
prey, first to Canute, and next to William the Norman.

A.D. 879. Guthrum and his forces withdraw to Ciren-
cester, and remain there during the year.

A fresh body of Northmen take up their quarters on
the Thames at Fulham.

A.D. 880. Guthrum and his forces settle in East Anglia.
The Northmen at Fulham leave the Thames, and be-
siege Ghent.

A.D. 881. The Northmen penetrate into France.
The Northmen land in Scotland, and defeat and kill
Constantine II. at Crail, in Fifeshire.

A.D. 882. Alfred goes to sea, and captures four vessels
of the enemy.

A.D.883. The Northmen ascend the Scheldt, and be-
siege Cond^.

Alfred sends alms to Rome, and also to India,
"which he had vowed to send, when they sat down
against the army at London."

A.D. 884. The Northmen besiege Amiens.

A.D. 885. The Northmen again land in England, and
besiege Rochester. Alfred relieves the city, and drives
the besiegers beyond sea.

"This year the army in East Anglia* broke the
peace with King Alfred."

Alfred sends a fleet against them, which captures six-
teen of their ships ; but his fleet is defeated on its return.

A.D. 886. "King Alfred repaired London, and all the
English submitted to him, except those who were under

• That is, Guthrum and his adherents.

86 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. 886 —

the bondage of the Danish men ; and then he committed
the town to the keeping of Ethelred, the ealdorman."

The Northmen besiege Paris.

England now seems to have had peace for a while,
for the Saxon Chronicle for the next seven years only
records offerings sent to Rome, which became so cus-
tomary that it is thought worthy of special remark, that
in 889 " there was no journey to Rome, except that King
Alfred sent two couriers with letters."

The bishops of Leicester, on the conquest of Mercia
by the Northmen, remove to Dorchester', in Oxfordshire.
A.D. 887. The Northmen pass the bridge at Paris, and
ravage the interior of France.

Alfred founds the monasteries of Shaftesbury and
Athelney.

A.D. 888. Athelswith (Alfred's sister, and relict of Bur-
gred of Mercia) dies on her way to Rome, and is buried
at Pavia.
A.D. 890. Guthrum dies.

The Northmen in France defeated by the Bretons.
A.D. 891. The Northmen, being defeated in the east
of France, near Louvaine, Sept. i, begin to retrace their
steps to the coast.

A.D. 898. The Northmen, having crossed France, em-
bark at Boulogne, and land at Limenemouth ', ** They
came over, horses and all, at one passage, with 250
ships." They fortify themselves at Appledore *•.

Hasting enters the Thames, and builds a fort at
Middleton (Milton, on the East Swale of the Medway).

f The West Saxon see founded here by Birinus (sec a.d. 635), was re-
moved to Winchester in 676.

ff The ancient mouth of the Rother, in Kent ; now Romney Sound.

^ The nature of their ordinary fortifications appears from a contemporary
notice in the Annals of Fulda: *'The Northmen, having made their forti-
fication with hedges according to their custom, securely encamped." The
annalist of Metz, however, points out an improved mode of proceeding:
"The Northmen protected themselves according to custom wiui wood and
a heap of earth ;'* and such we may conclude was their fashion fifty years
later, from a passage in the Saxon Chronicle relating to the battle of'^Bru-
nanburg — "The bo^-wall they clove, they hewed the war-lindens."

A,D. 896.] THE ANGLO-DANES. 87

The Northumbrians and East Angles favour the
invaders.

A.D, 894. Alfred places himself between the two armies
of Northmen,

The Northmen leave their forts for the purpose of
passing into Essex, but are defeated at Farnham. At
length they reach the Colne, and are besieged there.

The Northumbrians and East Angles attack Devon-
shire.

The Northmen defeated at Benfleet, their shipping
destroyed, and the wife and sons of Hasting captured.

The Northmen re-assemble at Shoebury, are joined
by the Northumbrians and East Angles, and pass up the
Thames to the Severn. They are besieged at Buttington,
in Shropshire, and obliged to surrender, "after having
eaten a great part of their horses."

The fugitives reach Essex, and assemble another
army. They commit " their wives, and their ships, and
their wealth" to the East Angles, and cross England to
Chester, where they are again besieged.

A.D. 895 (circa). The Northmen permanently establish
themselves in the Orkneys and Hebrides *.

The Northmen from Chester ravage North Wales,
and then return to Northumbria and East Anglia.

Sussex ravaged by the Northmen from Northumbria
and East Anglia.

The Northmen re-assemble in Mersey island, and
thence proceed up the Thames and the Lea.

A.D. 896. The Northmen build a fort on the Lea, pro-
bably near Ware, which is unsuccessfully attacked by
the Londoners.

Alfred encamps in the neighbourhood, and by cutting
fresh channels leaves the ravagers' ships aground.

* They had ravaged these islands at intervals for nearly a century ; but
they now settled there, and a large portion of the population at this day is
descended from them.

88 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 896 —

The Northmen retire to Shropshire, and pass the
winter there.

A.D. 897. The Northmen break up their army. " Some
went for East Anglia, some for Northumbria ; and they
who were moneyless procured themselves ships there,
and went southwards over sea to the Seine. Thanks be
to God, the army had not utterly broken down the
English nation ; but during the three years it was niuch
more broken down by the mortality among cattle, and
among men, and most of all by this, that many of the
most eminent king's thanes in the land died during the
three years."

The south coast of England harassed by plundering
parties. Alfred builds ships of a new model to contend
with them.

Some of the pirate vessels are captured, and their
crews put to death. Twenty more are wrecked on the
south coast.

A.D. 900. Wales ravaged by the Northmen, and Mervin,
prince of Powys, killed. His state is seized by Cadel of
Dynevor.

A.D. 901. Alfred dies, Oct. 26 J, and is buried at Win-
chester. He is succeeded by Edward.

EDWARD I., CALLED THE ELDER.

Edward, the eldest surviving son of Alfred, was
bom about 870, and as early as 894 he distinguished
himself against the Northmen at Famham.

His accession to the throne was unsuccessfully opposed
by Ethelwald, his cousin, who obtained aid from the
Anglo -Danes, and the greater part of his reign was
passed in repelling the attacks of the insurgents and
their allies from the North and from Ireland. Edward,

i ** Six nights before AU-Hallow-mass."

A.D. 904.] EDWARD I., CALLED THE ELDER. 89

however, several times defeated them'', and by taking
the precaution to erect forts as he proceeded, in which
he was powerfully aided by his sister Ethelfleda, the
** lady of the Mercians," he at length succeeded in putting
down all opponents ; so that, shortly before his death, in
925, he was acknowledged as " father and lord," not only
by all the Danish chiefs in England, but also by the
kings of the Scots and of the Strathclyde Britons.

Edward left a numerous family, of whom three (Athel-
stan, Edmund, and Edred) became kings of England ;
his other children were, — Edwin, who perished at sea;
Edgiva, married to Charles the Simple of France ; Edith,
to Otho the Great of Germany ; another Edgiva, to
Louis, king of Aries ; and several daughters who em-
braced a religious life, or whose aUiances have not been
satisfactorily determined. Thyra, wife of Gormo III., of
Denmark, is by some writers stated to be one of them,
but the fact is doubtful \

A.D. 901. Ethelwald the atheling", attempts to make
himself king in Wessex. Failing, he joins the Northmen
in Northumbria.
A J). 902. Edward is crowned. May 16.
A great battle at the Holm, in Kent, between the
Kentish men and the Northmen ; the latter defeated".
Elswitha, the widow of Alfred, dies °.
The Northmen driven from Dublin by the Irish.
A.D. 904. Ethelwald obtains possession of Essex.

^ The White Leaf cross, near Prince's Risborough, is regarded as a me-
morial of one of his victories.

> The sepulchre of this princess, who died in 035, still exists, at Jellinge,
in Jutland ; it is a chamber formed of beams 01 oak, covered with woollen
cloth, and inclosed in a vast tumulus.

■» Most probably the son of Ethelbert, Alfred's predecessor (see a.d. 858)1
but sometimes said to be his nephew.

■ This battle is ascribed to the year 904 by Florence of Worcester.

o Her death is ascribed to the year 905 in some MSS. of the Saxoa
Chronicle.

90 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 905— 910.

A.D. 906. Ethelwald and the Northmen ravage Mercia.
Edward in return invades "all their land between
the dikes and the Ouse, as far north as the fens." The
Kentish men, against his orders, remain behind, and are
defeated by the Northmen. " There was great slaughter
made on either hand ; and of the Danish men there were
more slain, though they had possession of the place of
carnage/' ..." And on the Danish side were slain Eohric
their king, and Ethelwald the atheling, who had enticed
him to break the peace . . . and likewise very many with
them, whom we are now unable to name."
The Northmen ravage Ireland.

A.D. 906. "This year King Edward, from necessity,
concluded a peace both with the army of East Anglia
and Northumbria."

A.D. 907. Chester rebuilt by Ethelfleda.

A.D. 909. The great diocese of Winchester divided, and
new sees established in Wilts, Somerset, Devon and
Cornwall.

A.D. 910. " King Edward sent out a force both of West
Saxons and of Mercians, and they greatly spoiled the
army of the north, as well of men as of every kind of
cattle, and slew many of the Danish men ; and they were
therein five weeks."

The Northmen defeated at Teotenheal, (probably
Tettenhall, in Staffordshire,) Aug. 6.

WALES.

Howel Dda, having about this time become ruler of
the whole of Wales p, summoned a numerous assembly
to the White House on the Tav (near Whitland, in Car-
marthenshire,) two-thirds being laymen, and one-third
clergy, to examine the ancient laws (those ascribed to
Dyvnwal Moelmud *») ; " some they suffered to continue

p See A.D. 840. 4 See a.d. 640.

WALES. 91

unaltered, some they amended, others they entirely abro-
gated, and some new laws they enacted." These laws
being submitted to the Pope, (Anastasius III.) and ap-
proved by him, were ordered to be observed throughout
Wales ; but numerous modifications were soon made in
them, and, as now known to us, they are in the form of
separate codes for each of the three states (Gwynneth,
Dynevor, and Gwent), into which Wales was in the tenth
century divided.

Each code presents the laws of the court, and the laws
of the country. The first contain most minute regula-
tions for every member of the royal household, from the
king to the doorkeeper, and state their various duties,
privileges, and emoluments, some of which are of a
singular nature ; the second give the rules applicable to
all offences against person or property, which are carried
to the extreme of defining the legal worth of most animals,
whether wild or tame, the price of a blind kitten even
being duly laid down, as well as the sums to be paid
for wounds or murder ; the principle of money payment,
rather than of blood for blood, prevailing in the Welsh
as fully as in the Anglo-Saxon community.

After the death of Howel Dda usurpation and civil
war ensued. At length Gwynneth was recovered by
the descendants of Anarawd, and under Llewelyn ap
Sitsylht' it became the ruling state, Dynevor having
lost much of the eastern part of its territory. Llewelyn
was killed in 1031, when lago, his brother-in-law, ob-
tained Gwynneth, and Rytherch, Dynevor; they were,
however, subdued by Griffin, the son of Llewelyn, who
held the supremacy till 1063, when he being defeated by
Earl Harold, and killed by his own people as the price
of peace, the whole of Wales was reduced to a nominal
dependence on England. Meredith, a descendant of

' From this prince, Cecil, the minbter of Elizabeth, professed to be
descended.

92 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 911 —

Howel Dda, was appointed prince of Dynevor, and
Blethin and Rywallon (the brothers of Griffin) princes
of Gwynneth and Powys, by the victors.

A.D. 911. The Northmen overrun Mercia, but are over-
taken and defeated on their retreat.

The Northmen from Dublin ravage South Wales.
A.D. 912. " King Edward obtains possession of London,
and of all the lands which owed obedience thereto.'*

A.D. 913. Edward advances into Hertford and Essex,
and builds several forts there.

Ethelfleda builds forts at Tamworth and at Stafford,
and at Warwick and other places in the next year.

A.D. 915. The Northmen recommence their invasion of
Ireland.

A.D.916. Ethelfleda's forces defeat the Welsh at Bre-
cenan-mere (Brecknock).
A.D. 917. Derby captured from the Northmen.
A.D. 918. Leicester surrendered by treaty to Ethelfleda.
" And the people of York had also covenanted with her,
some having given a pledge, and some having bound
themselves by oath, that they would be at her com-
mand."

Ethelfleda dies, June 12. Edward takes possession
of Mercia, "and all the people there, as well Danish
as English, submitted to him."

The coasts of Wales and the Severn ravaged by
a Northman fleet from Britanny. The invaders are
driven off, and retire to Ireland.

Cameleac, bishop of Llandaff, having been captured
by them, is ransomed by Edward.

The Northmen re-establish themselves in Dublin.
A.D. 919. Edward continues his progress, and captures
Bedford.

The Northmen give a signal defeat to the Irish at

A.D. 924-] WALES. 93

Kilmashogue, near Dublin, Sept. 15. King Niall and
fourteen other princes are killed there.

A.D. 920. Thurkytel, the Northman, and his followers,
are allowed to withdraw to France.

A.D. 921. Towcester ineffectually besieged by the North-
men.

Edward relieves his towns, and strengthens some
with stone walls, "and much people submitted to him,
as well among the East Anglians as among the East
Saxons, who before were under the dominion of the
Danes. And all the army among the East Anglians
swore oneness with him, that they would observe peace
towards all to which the king should ^grant his peace,
both by sea and land."

Armagh plundered by the Northmen.

A.D. 922. " King Edward went with his forces to Stam-
ford, and commanded the fort (burh) to be built upon the
south side of the river ; and all the people which owed
obedience to the northern towns submitted to him, and
sought him to be their lord."

The North- Welsh kings seek him for lord.

A.D. 923. Edward advances into Northumbria, and
builds forts at Thelwall, in Cheshire, and at Man-
chester.

Regnold, a Danish king, captures York.

A.D. 924. Edward builds other forts, as at Nottingham
and in the Peak. "Then chose him for father and for
lord, the king of the Scots and the whole nation of the
Scots % and Regnold and the son of Eadulf, and all those
who dwell in Northumbria, as well English as Danes,

* This, and some similar transactions in Anglo-Saxon times, formed the
ground for the claim of feudal subjection of the crown of Scotland to that
of England, which was urged by the Norman kings and their successors.
The capture of William the Lion and the disputed succession on the death
of Alexander III. occasioned its temporary admission; but Wallace and
Bruce, aided at first rather by the people than the nobles of Scotland,
(many of whom were of the English party^ havine lands in both kingdoms,)
successfully resisted the foe, and established the independence of their
country.

94 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 924 —

and Northmen and others, and also the king of the
Strathclyde Britons, and all the Strathclyde Britons/'

A.D. 925. Edward dies, and is buried at Winchester.
Athelstan succeeds.

ATHELSTAN.

Athelstan, the eldest, and perhaps the natural, son
of Edward, succeeded him, and shewed great vigour and
ability in contending with the Anglo-Danes and their
confederates, to whom he gave a signal overthrow at
Brunanburg. He also protected his young nephew Louis,
the son of Charles the Simple, and assisted in placing
him on the throne of France. He added many valuable
provisions to the laws promulgated by Alfred, like him
was liberal to monasteries, and favoured both literature
and commerce. He was never married, and was suc-
ceeded by his half-brother Edmund, in the year 940.

A.D. 925. Athelstan gives his sister in marriage to
Sihtric of Northumbria *.

A.D.926. "Sihtric perished", and King Athelstan ob-
tained the kingdom of the Northumbrians. And he
ruled all the kings who were in this island : first, Huwal,
king of the West- Welsh (Cornwall) ; and Constantine,
king of the Scots ; and Uwen, king of the Gwentian
people (on the lower course of the Severn) ; and Ealdred,
son of Ealdulf of Bamborough : and they confirmed the
peace by pledge and by oaths, at the place which is
called Eamot, on the 4th of the ides of July (July 12) ;
and they renounced all idolatry, and after that sub-
mitted to him in peace."

*■ Sihtric had long reigned in Dublin, but was driven from thence about

A.D. 020.

■• His two sons, Anlaf and Guthferth (Godfrey), sought refuge with the
Scots, but soon retired to the Ostmen in Ireland.

A.D. 940-] EDMUND I. 95

A.D. 929. Anlaf Cuaran (Anlaf of the Sandal), son of
Sihtric, becomes the leader of the Northmen of Water-
ford.

A.D.933. "This year Edwin the atheling [the half-
brother of Athelstan] was drowned at sea '."

Scotland ravaged by Athelstan with a fleet and
army. He also imposes a tribute on Wales*.

A.D. 937. Anlaf Cuaran, with an army of Northmen
from Ireland, and Constantine III., king of the Scots
(his father-in-law), land at the mouth of the H umber.
They are defeated by Athelstan and Edmund the athel-
ing, at Brunanburg ^

"Five youthful kings and seven earls were laid in
slumber by the sword, and of their army countless ship-
men and Scots. The West Saxons onward throughout
the day, in bands, pursued the footsteps of the loathed
nations. Carnage greater has not been in this island,
of people slain by the edge of the sword, since from the
east hither came the Angles and Saxons."

A.D. 939. Athelstan ravages Cornwall, and conquers
the isles of Scilly ».

A.D. 940. Athelstan dies at Gloucester, Oct. 27, and is
buried at Malmesbury. Edmund the atheling, his half-
brother, succeeds.

EDMUND I.

The short reign of Edmund was almost entirely
occupied in an attempt to reduce the Anglo-Danes to
something like real submission to the Saxon monarchs.

* Some writers, as Simeon of Durham, charge Athelstan with his murder ;
but this earlier notice leaves the matter doubtful.

> This tribute is stated in the North Welsh Code as three score and three
pounds in money, when the king of Aberfraw received his land from the
king of Tendon, beside dogs, hawks, and horses.

1 The site of this celebrated battle has not been ascertained.

• The isles are visible from St. Buryan, near the Land's End, and Athel-
stan is said to have rebuilt the church, in performance of a vow, in token of
his victory.

96 THE SAXO^ ERA. [A.D. 94I —

He was killed in his own court in the year 946, in the
25th year of his age. His two sons, Edwy and Edgar,
being minors, he was succeeded by his brother Edred.

A.D. 941. The Northumbrians choose Anlaf of Ireland
(Anlaf Cuaran) for their king.

Edmund re-captures the Five Burghs' from the
Danes.

A.D. 943. Anlaf* captures Tamworth in Mercia. He
is besieged in Leicester by Edmund, but escapes.

Anlaf submits to King Edmund, is baptized, and is
" royally gifted" by him.

Regnold of York also submits, and is baptized, near
the close of the year.

A.D. 944. Northumbria entirely subdued, and Anlaf
Cuaran expelled.

Dublin captured from the Northmen by the Irish.
A.D. 946. Cumberland ravaged by Edmund *=, and granted
to Malcolm, king of the Scots, " on the condition that he
should be his fellow-worker, as well by sea as by land."
The Northmen retake Dublin.
A.D. 946. King Edmund is killed in his own hall
by Liofa, an outlaw, at Puckle- church, (in Gloucester-
shire, not far from Bristol,) May 26. His brother Edred
succeeds.

EDRED.

Edred, the son of Edward I., was more successful
than Edmund had been, and, though they more than
once rose against him, he finally reduced the Anglo-

• These were Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford, and Derby, the
inhabitants of which, "by need constrained, had ere while a long time dwelt
in captive chains to heathen men."

•» Probably the son of Godfrey the brother of Sihtric, and consequently
cousin of Anlaf Cuaran, with whom he has been confounded by many
writers. See Todd's " Wars of the Gael."

" It had been not long before seized by the Northmen. It was ruled as
a separate principality by the Scottish heir-apparent, and was not re-annexed
to England till the time of Edward I.

A.D. 952.] EDRED. 97

Danes to subjection. He then gave himself up mainly
to a religious course of life, and entrusted the direction
of pubHc affairs to the celebrated Dunstan **. He died
in 955, and was succeeded by his nephew Edwy.

A.D. 946. Edred crowned, Sunday, August 16.

The Northumbrians revolt, but are defeated by
Edred; "and the Scots gave him oaths, that they
would that he would."

A.D.947. "King Edred came to Taddenesscylf, (Tan-
shelf, near Pontefract,) and there Wulstan the archbishop
[of York] and all the Northumbrian witan plighted their
troth to the king; and within a little while they belied
all, both pledge and all oaths."

A.D. 948. The Northumbrians choose Eric, a Dane, for
their king. Edred ravages their country, and the great
minster at Ripon, built by Wilfrid, is burnt.

The Northumbrians abandon Eric, and submit.
" King Howel the Good, son of Cadel, the chief and
glory of all the Britons, died *."

A.D. 949. Anlaf Cuaran comes to Northumbria, and is
received as king.

A.D. 952. Wulstan, archbishop of York, imprisoned,
" because he had been oft accused to the king '."

' Dunstan, one of the most prominent names in Anglo-Saxon history, was
bom of noble parents in Wessex, about 920. He became a recluse in Glas-
tonbury whilst still a youth, but was brought to the court by his uncle,
Athelm, archbishop of Canterbury. Gainine the favour of King Edmund,
he was made by that prince abbot of Glastonbury. Dunstan, though abbot,
remained at court, became, in effect, the prime minister of Edmund, Edred,
and Edgar, and eventuallv archbishop of Canterbury. He devoted himself
zealously to ecclesiastical and monastic reforms, and hence he has been
described in very unfavourable colours by many modem writers. He was
canonized shortly after his death in ^8. His skill in music and mechanics
was remarkable, but his monkish biographers have so exaggerated these
and other matters concerning him, as to produce the very contrary effect
to that intended.

* Chronicle of the Princes of Wales.

' He vras released in 954, and retired to Oundle (the monastery founded
by Wilfrid), where he died, in 955 or 956.

98 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 952 —

The Northumbrians expel Anlaf Cuaran, who returns
to Ireland, and recall Eric.

A.D. 954. The Northumbrians again expel Eric, and
submit to King Edred ».

A.D. 965. King Edred . dies at Frome, Nov. 23, and is
buried at Winchester. Edwy, his brother's son, succeeds.

EDWY.

The chief events of the short, unhappy reign of Edwy
were. the banishment of Dunstan, his uncle's minister,
and the revolt of the Mercian and Northumbrian pro-
vinces. His marriage with Elgiva, who was "too nearly
related" to him, called down the censures of the Church ;
and he died in 958, or 959, before he had attained his
19th year. ^

A.D. 955. Edwy is crowned at Kingston by archbishop
Odo.

A.D. 956. The abbot Dunstan is banished.

A.D.957. The Mercians and Northumbrians choose
Edgar for their king. He recalls Dunstan, and soon
after makes him bishop of Worcester.

A.D.958. "This year archbishop Odo separated King
Edwy and Elgiva, because they were too nearly related."
"Odo the GoodV* archbishop of Canterbury, dies,
June 2.

A.D. 958 or 959. Edwy dies, Oct. i, and is buried at
Winchester, His brother Edgar succeeds.

* From this tinier Simoon of Durham remarks, there were no more kinss
in Northumbria ; its rulers, though nearly in4ependent, only had the tide
of duke, or coun^ or earl.

^ Such was the title among his contemporaries of one whom comparatively
recent writers describe as a monster. He appears only to have carried out
the recognised rule in separating Edwy and Elgiva ; and though Osbem
ascribes the death of the princess to him, Eadmer says that it was the act
of the Mercian partisans ofEdgar. Odo was the son of a Danish chief, and
had been banished from his home in boyhood for frequenting a Christian
church. Some canons of his and a synodiod epistle, which remain to us,
have been pronounced "grave and pious compositions, very creditable to
his memory."

A.D. 965.] EDGAR. 99

EDGAR.

Edgar, the second son of Edmund, had so much
more peaceable a reign than any of his predecessors,
that he has received the title of the Pacific Acting
mainly by the direction of Dunstan, archbishop of Can-
terbury, he preserved his states from war by ever shew-
ing himself prepared for it, favoured the restoration of
religious houses ruined in the troubled times of preced-
ing kings, and greatly patronized the monastic rule ;
whence he is much praised by some writers, although
his private conduct was deeply marked by vice and
cruelty. He died in 975, leaving by Ethelfleda, his first
wife, Edward, who succeeded him, and a daughter,
Edith ; and by Elfritha, his second wife, Ethelred,.who
also became king.

A.D. 959. Dunstan, who is the royal treasurer, is made
bishop of London; and soon after is removed to Can-
terbury.

A.D.961. The Northmen land in Scotland, and kill
Indulf, the king, at Forteviot.

A.D. 962. St. Paul's minster, in London, burnt.

A.D.963. The abbot Ethelwold becomes bishop of
Winchester, and expels the secular priests. ''After-
wards, then came he to the king, Edgar, and begged of
him that he would give him all the minsters that heathen
men had formerly broken down, because he would re-
store them ; and the king blithely granted it." Ely and
Medeshamstede (Peterborough), "where were nothing
but old walls and wild woods," are accordingly restored.

AJ).964. Edgar expels the secular priests from many
minsters, and replaces them with monks.

A.D.966. Edgar marries Elfritha, the daughter of
Ordgar, the ealdorman of Devonshire.

lOO THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 966—

A.D. 966. Thored, a Northman, ravages Westmoreland.
Oslac obtains the earldom of Northumberland.

A.D. 968. " King Edgar ordered all Thanet-land to be
ravaged *.*'

A.D. 970. Anlaf Cuaran defeats the northern Irish, and
plunders Kells.

A.D. 978. Edgar is crowned at Bath, May 11.

" And soon after that, the king led all his ship-forces
to Chester ; and there came to meet him six kings ■*, and
they all plighted their troth to him, that they would be
his fellow-workers by sea and by land."

A.D. 975. Edgar dies, July 8, and is buried at Glaston-
bury. His son Edward succeeds.

EDWARD II., CALLED THE MARTYR.

After a reign of less than four years, in which much
that his father had done to establish the monastic rule
was set aside, this unfortunate young prince was as-
sassinated by the order of his step-mother, and he is re-
tained in the calendar of the Anglican Church as a saint
and martyr ; his feast is celebrated on the i8th of March,
and the translation of his remains from their private
resting-place at Wareham to Shaftesbury on the 20th of
June. His half-brother Ethelred succeeded him.

A.D.975. "Oslac, the great earl [of Northumberland],
is banished from England."

" The monastic rule was quashed, and minsters dis-
solved, and monks driven out, and God's servants put

i The inhabitants had plundered some Northman traders from York, who
were under the king's protection.

^ The Anslo-Saxon Chronicle does not name them ; but later writers, as
Florence of Worcester, mention eight, and specify Kenneth, king of the
Scots, Malcolm, king of Cumberland, Macciu, king of the Isles, and five
Northman and British chiefik

A.D< 979.] ETHELRED II. 101

down, whom King Edgar ordered the holy bishop Ethel-
wold to establish."

A.D. 976. "This year was the great famine among the
English nation."

A.D. 978. " In this year all the chief witan of the English
nation fell at Calne from an upper chamber, except the
holy archbishop Dunstan, who alone supported himself
upon a beam ; and there were some grievously maimed,
and some did not escape it with life."

A.D.979. "King Edward was slain at eventide at
Corfes-geat* on the 15th of the calends of April
(March 18), and then was he buried at Wareham, with-
out any kind of kingly honours. There has not been
done among the Angles a worse deed than this, since
they first sought Britain. He was in life an earthly
king ; he is now after death a heavenly saint,"

ETHELRED II.

The long reign of this prince, contemptuously styled
" the Unready "■," was little else than a series of vain
struggles with the Northmen, whom he alternately met
in the field, bribed to retire, or attempted to cut off by
assassination, but in all with equal want of success. He
was obliged to take refiige in Normandy in 1013, and
he only returned to die in England at the time that
Canute was preparing the formidable armament with
which he shortly after made himself master of the
country. By his first wife, Elgiva, he left Edmund, who
succeeded him ; Edwy, put to death by Canute ; Elfgina,
married to Uhtred of Northumberland ; Edgith, married
to Edric Streona; and several other children. By his
second wife, Emma, he had Edward (afterwards king),
and Alfred, murdered in 1036 by Godwin ; and Goda,

1 Corfe, in Dorsetshire, the residence of his stepmother, Elfritha.
" Ethelred means "noble counsel; so that the appellation is literallYs
' The noble counsellor who cannot advise."

I02 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 979—

first married to Drogo, count of Mantes, and afterwards
to Eustace, count of Boulogne, whose visit to England
in 105 1 was attended by a fatal result to many of his
party.

A.D. 979. Ethelred is crowned at Kingston, on Sunday,
May 4th ".

A.D. 980. Southampton, Thanet, and Cheshire ravaged
by the Northmen.

The Northmen in Ireland sustain a great defeat at
Tara. Anlaf Cuaran goes on a pilgrimage to Hii, and
dies there.

A.D. 981. The coasts of Wales, Cornwall and Devon
ravaged ; Padstow is destroyed.

A.D. 982. Portland ravaged by three ships of pirates.

' London burnt.

A.D. 983. Elfric is appointed ealdorman of Mercia °.

A.D. 984. "This year died the benevolent bishop of
Winchester, Ethelwold, father of monks, on the calends
of August" (Aug. i).

A.D. 985. Elfric is banished.

A.D. 986. '' This year the king laid waste the bishopric
of Rochester '."

"This year first came the great murrain among
cattle in the English nation.**

A.D. 988. " This year was Watchet ravaged, and Goda,
the Devonshire thane, slain, and with him much slaughter
made."

The Northmen from Ireland levy a tribute on Wales \
Archbishop Dunstan dies, May 19'.

■ Florence ofWorcester says, Z4th April, 978.

o His father, Elfhere, had long held the office, but Elfric was in league
with the Northmen. He now made his peace, and thus obtained the post,
which enabled him to do much mischief.

p The cause of this is not known.

4 This is called the tribute of the black Pagans, in the Chronicle of the
Princes of Wales.

' Dunstan is retained in the Anglican calendar^ his feast occurring on
May 19, and eighteen churches exist dedicated to him.

A.D. 994-] ETHELRED II. tOJ

AJ). 989. The Northmen in Dublin said to pay tribute
to Melaghlin (Malachy), king of Ireland.

A.1). 991. " This year was Ipswich ravaged ; and after
that very shortly was Brihtnoth, the ealdorman, slain.

"And in that year it was decreed that tribute, for
the first time ', should be given to the Danish-men, on
account of the great terror which they caused the sea-
coast ; that was at first ten thousand pounds : this
counsel advised first archbishop Sigeric" (of Canterbury).
A.D. 992. A fleet assembled at London to resist the
Northmen.

Elfric, who had returned and received a command,
joins the enemy.

A.D. 993. The Lincolnshire and Northumbrian coasts
ravaged ; Bamborough taken by storm. The army raised
against the Northmen disperses, Frena, Godwin, and
other Anglo-Danes, setting the example of flight.

Elfgar, the son of Elfric, is blinded by the king's
order.

A.D.994. Anlaf and Sweyn', from Norway, attack
London, but are repulsed, Sept 8.

They ravage Kent and the south coast, " and at last
they took to themselves horses, and rode as far as they
would, doing unspeakable evil."

They take up their winter quarters at Southampton,
where a peace is made with them, receiving food and
sixteen thousand pounds of money.

" Then the king sent bishop Elphege and Ethelward
the ealdorman after King Anlaf, and the while, hostages
were delivered to the ships ; and they then led Anlaf with

• This fatal expedient had been proposed in 865, but whilst the matter
was in debate the Northmen " stole away bv night, and ravaged all Kent to
the eastward ; " and even Alfred, in the early part of his reign, paid money
to induce the invaders to withdraw.

* Sweyn, sumamed Tveskjsg, or Forked Beard, was the father of Canute,
who conquered England, and he himself had possession of a portion of it a
short time before his death, so that he is sometimes considered as the first
Dsmish king.

104 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. 994^

much worship to the king at Andover. And King Ethel-
red received him at the bishop's hands, and royally gifted
him. And then Anlaf made a covenant with him, even
as he also fulfilled, that he never again would come
hostilely to the English nation »."

A.D. 996. Elfric, bishop of Wiltshire, is appointed arch-
bishop of Canterbury, April 2i.

The bishop's see and the body of St. Cuthbert re-
moved from Chester-le-Street, and after a while settled
on the bank of the Wear, where Durham now stands.

A.D. 996. Elfric, having journeyed to Rome to consult
the Pope (John XVI.), expels the secular priests from the
minster at Canterbury*.

A J). 997. Devon, Cornwall, and the coasts of the Bristol
Channel, ravaged by the Northmen; the monastery of
Tavistock burnt by them.

A.D. 998. The Northmen rayage Dorset and Hamp-
shire, and establish themselves in the Isle of Wight.

A.D. 999. The Northmen ravage Kent.

A.D. IQOO. Ethelred ravages Cumberland, while his ships
attack Anglesey*.

The Northmen land in Scotland, and capture Kinloss.
Morgan, bishop of St. David's, killed by the North-
men.

The Northmen withdraw to Normandy.
Brien Boru, king of Munster, captures Dublin y.

A.D. 1001. The Northmen return to England, and ravage
the western counties. They gain victories at Etheling-
dene (perhaps Alton), and at Penhoe, in Devonshire.

" Anlaf (also called Olaf, or Olaus) returned to Norway, where he zeal-
ously laboured to introduce Christianity, which occasioned a quarrel with
his Drother-in-law and former ally, Sweyn, by whom he was driven out
and killed in the year zooo. His kinsman, Icnown as Olaf the Saint, re-
conquered Norway, but was slain through the intrieues of Canute ; another
kinsman of Anlat was Harold Hardrada, who fell at Stamford bridge.
See A.D. io66.

' Cumberland was then possessed by the Scots (see a.d. 945), and Angle-
sey in league with the Northmen.

y He abandoned the city after pltmdering it, and occupying it for a month
or more

A.D. ICX>4.] ETHELRED II. ^^5

"And thence they went into Wihtland (the Isle of
Wight), and there they roved about, even as they them-
selves would, and nothing withstood them ; nor any fleet
by sea durst meet them ; nor land force either, went they
ever so far up. Then was it in every wise a heavy time,
because they never ceased from their evil doings."

A.D. 1002. " Twenty-four thousand pounds was paid as
tribute to the fleet, and peace made with them, on con-
dition that they should cease from their evil doings.'*

Ethelred marries Emma, daughter of Richard II.,
duke of Normandy.

" In this year the king ordered all the Danish-men «
who were in England to be slain. This was done on
Bricius' mass-day (Nov. 13) ; because it was made known
to the king that they would treacherously bereave him
of his life, and afterwards all his witan ; and after that
have his kingdom without any gainsaying '.*'

A.D. 1003. Sweyn invades England to revenge the mas-
sacre.

Exeter, betrayed by " the French ceorl Hugo, whom
the lady Emma had appointed her reeve," is entirely
ruined by him.

Wilton and Salisbury sacked by him, Elfric again
betraying his trust ^

A.D. 1004. Sweyn ravages Norfolk, and bums Norwich
and Thetford. Ulfkytel, the ealdorman of East Anglia,
collects a force against them. " And they there stoutly
joined battle, and much slaughter was there made on
either hand. There were the chief among the East
Anglian people slain ; but if the full force there had
been, they never again had gone to their ships ; inas-
much as they themselves said, that they never had met

* That is, his Northman body-guard ; but the instruction was exceeded,
and women and children of their nation were also put to death.

* Such is the contemporary account of this most atrocious and impolitic
act. One of the sufferers was Gunhilda, the sister of Sweyn, on whon\'
William of Malmesbury pronotmces a warm eulogium.

^ See A.D. 99a.

I06 THE SAXON ERA. [a.D. IOO4—

a worse hand-play among the English nation than Ulf-
kytel had brought to them."

A.D. 1005. '* This year was the great famine throughout
the English nation ; such, that no man ever before re-
collected one so grim. And the fleet in this year went
from this land to Denmark ; and staid but a little space
ere it came again.''

A.D. 1006. *^ The great fleet came to Sandwich, and did
all as they had been before wont ; they- ravaged, and
burned, and destroyed wherever they went."

A force is assembled against them, ^'but it availed
nothing" . . . "for this army went wheresoever itself
would, and the forces did every kind of harm to the
inhabitants ; so that neither profited them, nor the home
army, nor the foreign army."

The Northmen make the Isle of Wight their winter
quarters, and send out plundering parties into Hamp-
shire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. " And they went along
Escesdun (Aston) to Cwichelm's-hlaew ^^ and there abode,
as a daring boast; for it had been often said, if they
should reach Cwichelm*s-hlaew, that they would never
again get to the sea : then they went homewards another
way."

The Northmen gain a victory at Kennet, (near Marl-
borough,) and King Ethelred retires into Shropshire.

" Then became the dread of the army so g^eat, that
no man could think or discover how they could be driven
out of the land, or this land maintained against them ;
for they had every shire in Wessex sadly marked, by
burning and by plundering. Then the king began earn-
estly with his witan to consider what might seem most
advisable to them all, so that this land might be saved,
before it was utterly destroyed. Then the king and his
witan decreed for the behalf of the whole nation, though

' Now called Cuckamsley-hill, to the north of West Ilsley, in Berkshire,
full 60 miles from the coast. It is traditionally said to have been the usual
place of assembly of the people of Wessex.

A.D. ICX)9.] ETHELRED II. I07

it was hateful to them all, that they needs must pay
tribute to the army. Then the king sent to the army,
and directed it to be made known to them, that he
would that there should be a truce between them, and
that tribute should be paid, and food given them. And
then all that they accepted ; and then were they vic-
tualled from throughout the English nation.''

A.D.1007. "In this year was the tribute delivered to
the army ; it was 36,000 pounds."

Edric Streona ** is appointed ealdorman of Mercia.
AJ). 1008. A great fleet prepared throughout England ;
"from three hundred hides and from ten hides, one
vessel*, and from eight hides a helmet and a coat of
mail."

A.D. 1009. The great fleet being ready, is rendezvoused
at Sandwich.

Wulfnoth, the South- Saxon, father of Godwin, being
accused of treason, gathers twenty ships and ravages the
south coast.

Eighty ships being sent against him, many are
damaged by a storm, and Wulfnoth bums the rest.

The king quits his fleet, the remains of which are
brought to London.

"Then soon after Lammas (Aug. i,)the vast hostile
army, which we have H:alled Thurkill's army, came to
Sandwich," and having laid Kent under tribute, ravaged
Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire.

Ethelred attempts to prevent their return to their
ships, but is foiled by the treachery of Edric.

The Danes take up their winter quarters on the
Thames, " and oft they fought against London ; but
praise be to God that it yet stands sound, and they
there ever fared evilly." Oxford is burnt by them during

* That is, Edric the Acquirer, or, less favourably, the Rapacious. He
is said to have belonged to the old royal family of the South Saxons, who
wrere reduced to the rank of nobles by Egbert.

• That is, one vessel each, or 310 in all

Io8 THE SAXON ERA, [A.D. I009 —

the winter, and in the spring they retire to Kent to repair
their ships.

A.D.1010. The Danes land at Ipswich, and defeat the
East Anglians, May 18.

They procure horses, and ravage the whole country
as far as Temes-ford, (Tempsford, near Bedford).

A witenagemot is summoned by the king, but no-
thing is done, ** and at last there was no head man who
would assemble forces, but each fled as he best might ;
nor, at the last, would even one shire assist the other."

The Danes bum Northampton, in November, and
having ravaged the northern part of Wessex, retire to
their ships.

A.D. 1011. '' In this year sent the king and the witan to
the army, and desired peace, and promised them tribute
and food, on condition that they would cease from their

plundering." " And nevertheless, for all the truce

and tribute, they went everywhere in bands, and plun-
dered our miserable people, and robbed and slew them."

The Danes capture Canterbury, through the trea-
chery of Aelfmer the archdeacon, " whose life the arch-
bishop Elphege had before saved," and carry the arch-
bishop and many other persons of rank to their ships ;
"and abbot Aelfmer [of St. Augustine's] they let go away."
A J). 1012. A witenagemot held at London, which pays
a tribute of 48,000 pounds to the army.

"Then was the army gfreatly excited against the
bishop (Elphege), because he would not promise them
any money; but he forbade that anything should be
given for him. They had also drunk deeply, for wine
had been brought there from the south. Then took
they the bishop, led him to their busting' on the eve
of Sunday the octaves of Easter, which was on the 13th
of the calends of May, (April 19) ; and there they then

' A popular assembly, not in the open air, the word meaning literally
*' house-court."

A.D. IOI3.] ETHELRED II. I09

shamefully slaughtered him : they cast upon him bones
and the heads of oxen, and then one of them struck him
with an axe-iron on the head, so that with the blow he
sank down, and his holy blood fell on the earth, and
his holy soul he sent forth to God's kingdom. And on
the morrow the body was carried to London, and the
bishops Ednoth and Elfhun, and the townsmen, received
it with all reverence, and buried it in St. Paul's minster ;
and there God now manifesteth the miraculous powers
of the martyr »."

Ethelred takes forty-five of the Danish ships into
his pay.

AJ). 1013. Sweyn arrives at Sandwich with his fleet, in
the summer.

He overruns East Anglia and Northumbria, and re-
ceives hostages from every shire.

Leaving his ships and the hostages with his son
Canute, he proceeds southward, and captures Oxford and
Winchester, but is repulsed from London, " where much
of his people was drowned in the Thames, because they
kept not to any bridge."

Sweyn proceeds to Bath, when the western shires sub-
mit to him. ''And when he had thus succeeded, then
went he northward to his ships ; and then all the people
held him for full king."

"And after that the townsmen of London submitted,
and delivered hostages, because they dreaded lest he
should utterly undo them. Then Sweyn ordered a full
tribute, and provisions for his army during the winter ;
and Thurkill ordered the like for the army which lay
at Greenwich ; and for all that, they plundered as oft
as they would."

King Ethelred sends his queen and the athelings,
Edward and Alfred, to Normandy; he soon follows them,
and remains there till after the death of Sweyn.

* The body was removed to Canterbury by command of Canute in the
year 1033, before which date Uiis passage must have betoa'WDXNxsu

no THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IOU—

A.D.1014. ''In this year King Sweyn ended his days
at Candlemas, (Feb. 3} . . . and all the fleet then chose
Canute for king."

"Then counselled all the witan who were in Eng-
land, clergy and laity, that they should send after King
Ethelred; and they declared that no lord were dearer
to them than their natural lord, if he would rule them
rightlier than he had before done. Then sent the king
his son Edward hither with his messengers, and ordered
them to greet all his people ; and said that he would
be to them a loving lord, and amend all those things
which they all abhorred, and each of those things should
be forgiven which had been done or said to him, on con-
dition that they all, with one consent, would be obedient
to him, without deceit. Apd they then established full
friendship, by word and by pledge, on either half, and
declared every Danish king an outlaw from England for
ever. Then, during Lent, King Ethelred came home to
his own people, and he was gladly received by them all."

The people of Lindsey (Anglo-Danes) miake a com-
pact with Canute, "that they should find him horses,
and that afterwards they should all go out together and
plunder."

King Ethelred attacks them with his full force, and
Canute retires to his ships.

Canute comes to Sandwich, "and there he caused
the hostages to be put on shore who had been delivered
to his father, and cut off their hands, and ears, and
noses."

The Northmen defeated at Clontarf (near Dublin), by
Brien Bom, who is himself slain, April 23 (Gk)od Friday).

A great sea-flood, which washed away many vills and
a countless number of people, Sept. 28.

AJ). 1015. Siferth and Morcar, the chief thanes in the
Seven Burghs **, treacherously slain by Edric.

^ Probably the Five Burghs ahready named (p. 96), with the addition
of Chester Mad York.

A.D. IOl6.] EDMUND IRONSIDE. Ill

Edmund the atheling takes Siferth's widow from the
convent of Malmesbury, marries her, and obtains pos-
session of the burghs.

Canute ravages Wessex, and subdues it. He is
joined by Edric with 40 ships.

A.D.1016. Canute and Edric pass into Mercia; "and
they ravaged, and burned, and slew all that they
could come at."

A force is gathered against them, and headed by
King Ethelred, but, being apprehensive of treachery, he
retires to London, and the troops disperse.

Canute passes into Northumbria, where, by the
advice of Edric, he kills Uhtred the ealdorman, son-in-
law of Ethelred, and appoints Eric in his stead.

Canute returns to Wessex, and prepares for an ex-
pedition against London.

Edmund the atheling retires to London.

" Then befel it that King Ethehred died, before the
ships arrived. He ended his days on St. George's mass-
day (April 23), and he held his kingdom with great
loss and under great difficulties, the while that his life
lasted."

EDMUND IRONSIDE*.

Edmund, the eldest son of Ethelred, succeeded him,
but after many fierce contests with Canute, he found him-
self obliged to agree to a partition of his kingdom, and
he died shortly after, most probably by assassination.
By his wife Algitha, the relict of Siferth, he left two
sons, Edward and Edmimd, who were exiled by Canute.
Edwy the Churl king (the king of the people, or popular
favourite), banished by Canute, is by some writers said
to have been a son of Edmund, but the point is not
satisfactorily established.

' This popular name is first met with in Florence of Worcester.

112 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IOI6 —

A.D.1016. "All the witan who were in London, and
the townsmen, chose Edmund to be king ; and he stren-
uously defended his kingdom the while that his time
lasted."

Edmund leaves London, and overruns Wessex.

"Then came the ships to Greenwich at Rogation
days (May 7). And within a little space they went to
London, and they diig a great ditch on the south side,
and dragged their ships to the west side of the bridge ;
and afterwards they ditched the town around, so that
no one could go either in or out; and they repeatedly
fought against the town, but the townsmen strenuously
withstood them."

Edmund fights with the Danes at Pen, by Gilling-
ham, in Dorsetshire, and at Sceorstan, (Shirestone, near
Burford), then relieves London, and two days after de-
feats the Danes at Brentford.

Edmund retires into Wessex, when the Danes again
besiege London ; " and they beset the town around, and
strongly fought against it, as well by water as by land.
But the Almighty God delivered it."

The Danes retire from London, proceed up the
Orwell, and ravage Mercia. "Then King Edmund as-
sembled, for the fourth time, all his forces, and went
over the Thames at Brentford, and went into Kent,
and the army fled before him, with their horses, into
Sheppy ; and the king slew as many of them as he
could come up with." Edric comes over to the king
at Aylesford, and dissuades him from following up
his victory.

The Danes again pass through Essex into Mercia.

Edmund pursues them, but, being betrayed by Edric,
is defeated at Assandun, (Assingdon, near Rochford^),
"and all the nobility of the English race was there
destroyed."

i Formerly erroneously placed at Ashdown, near Saffron Walden.

A.D. I0l6.] CANUTE. II3

Canute pursues Edmund into Gloucestershire. "Then
counselled Edric the ealdorman and the witan who were
there, that the kings should be mutually reconciled.
And they delivered hostages mutually ; and the kings
came together at Olanege, near Deerhurst'', and they
confirmed their friendship as well by pledge as by oath,
and settled the tribute for the army. And then they
separated with , this reconcilement ; and Edmund ob-
tained Wessex, and Canute Mercia. And the arniy
then went to their ships, with the things that they had
taken. And the men of London made a truce with
the army, and bought themselves peace ; and the army
brought their ships to London, and took up their winter
quarters therein.

" Then at St. Andrew's mass (Nov. 30) died King
Edmund, and his body lies at Glastonbury, with his
grandfather Edgar."

CANUTE.

Canute, the son of Sweyn, already in possession of
the greater part of England, succeeded to the whole
on the death of Edmund, and secured his throne by
a marriage with Emma, the widow of Ethelred. He
undertook several foreign expeditions, in the course of
which he conquered Norway ; he also made a pilgrim-
age to Rome, and he did much to repair the ravages
of war in England ; restoring minsters and churches,
and promulgating equitable laws*. Canute died in 1035,
leaving three sons, Sweyn, Harold and Harthacnut ■»,
and a daughter, Gunhilda", who married the emperor
Henry III.

^ The isle of Alney, near Gloucester.

' See p. 136. "» Commonly styled Hardicanute.

■ She was the daughter of Emma, and like her was famed for her
beauty. She was accused of infidelity, but being vindicated by the wager
of battle she withdrew from her husband's court, and died at Bruises.
August 21, X043.

114 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IOI7 —

A.D. 1017. " This year Canute was chosen king ; ... he
obtained the whole reahn of the English race, and di-
vided it into four parts ; Wessex to himself, and East
Anglia to Thurkill, and Mercia to Edric, and Northum-
bria to Eric," as his viceroys.

Edric, boasting of his treasons, is shortly after slain
in London, by order of Canute, " very justly "."

Canute puts to death Edwy, the brother of King
Edmund, and several of the chief English nobles, and
banishes Edwy, king of the churls.

Canute marries the widow of Ethelred, " called -<Elf-
give in English, and Ymma in French."

A.D. 1018. The tribute paid to the army, amounting to
82,500 pounds.

Canute takes forty ships of the army into his pay,
and the rest retire to Denmark.

Edgar's law received both by Danes and Angles p.

A.D. 1019. Canute goes to Denmark, and remains the
whole winter.

A.D. 1020. Canute returns to England. He builds at
Assandun " a minster of stone and lime, for the souls
of the men who there were slain % and gave it to one
of his priests, whose name was Stigand '."

A.D. 1021. Thurkill, the earl of East Anglia, is outlawed.

A.D. 1022. " This year King Canute went out with his
ships to Wight."

A J). 1028. Canute returns to England. Thurkill is re-
stored to favour, and appointed governor of Denmark.

The remains of Elphege removed, " with much state
and bliss, and songs of praise," from London to Canter-
bury; Canute, and his queen, "with her royal child
Hearda-Cnut," assisting.

• Very justly Indeed, if all that is recorded aeainst him is true ; but it
seems impossible that he could have been guilty of half the treacheries
which the Chronicler charges him with.

p Seep. 136. <> SeeA.D. xoz6. ' Afterwards archbishop

of Canterbury.

A.D. I035.] HAROLD I. II 5

A.D. 1026. Canute goes to Denmark, but is defeated by
the Swedes.

A.D. 1026. The Northmen of Dublin do homage to the
king of Munster.

A.D. 1027. Canute makes a pilgrimage to Rome •.
"So soon as Canute came home from Rome, then
went he into Scotland ; and the king of the Scots, Mal-
colm, submitted to him, and became his man [vassal],
but that he held only a little while."

Melbethe (Macbeth) and Jehmarc, two Scottish
chiefs, also submit.

A.D.1028. Canute goes to Norway, "with fifty ships
of English thanes,*' drives out Olaf, and conquers the
country.

A.D. 1029. Canute returns to England.

" Hacon, the doughty earl *,*' is banished ; he died
at sea the next year.

A.D. 1030. Olaf returning to Norway, is slain ; " he
afterwards was sainted \"

A.D. 1032. "This year appeared the wild-fire, such as
no man before remembered ; and moreover on all sides
it did harm, in many places."

A.D. 1035. Canute dies at Shaftesbury, Nov. 12, and is
buried at Winchester. Harold succeeds.

HAROLD I.

Harold, the reputed second son of Canute, though
he at first agreed to a partition of England with his

• The Saxon Chronicle ascribes this event to the year 1031 ; but Wippo/
who was secretary to Conrad II., says that he saw Canute at the coronation
of the emperor, which took place at Rome, March 26, 1027. Florence of
Worcester has preserved a long letter from Canute to the archbishop of
Canterbury and others, giving an account of his exertions for the benefit
of the English clergy and others having business with the papal court.

t He was the son of Earl Eric of Norway and nephew of Canute. Hisii
wife Gunhilda was Canute's niece.

n St. Olave, king and martyr, was formerly commemorated m the English
Church on the 29th of July^ supposed^ to have been the day of his dAaSiv.
Fourteen churches exist dedicated to him.

Il6 THE SAXON ERA. [a D. I035—

half-brother Harthacnut, soon obtained the whole, and
banished the Queen Emma, after murdering her son
Alfred. Beyond this, his reign was without incident,
and he is only remembered for his speed in the chase,
which gained him the name of Harold Harefoot. He
died suddenly in the year 1040.

A.D. 1036. Harold despoils Queen Emma of her trea-
sures ; but allows her, for a time, to dwell at Winchester,
under the guard of the house-carles '.

William the Bastard succeeds his father Robert as
duke of Normandy.

A.D. 1036. Alfred and Edward, the sons of Ethelred
and Emma, are treacherously invited to England. Alfred
is blinded, and dies in confinement at Ely. " Godwin
and other men who had much power '' are stated is the
perpetrators by one of the Saxon Chronicles. Edward
(afterwards king) escapes to Normandy.

A.D. 1037. " Harold was chosen king over all, and
Harthacnut forsaken, because he stayed too long in
Denmark; and then they drove out his mother Elgiva,
the queen, without any kind of mercy, against the stormy
winter ; and she came to Bruges, where Baldwin the
earl ^ well received her."

A.D. 1038. The see of Dublin founded by Sitric Silken-
beard, the Northman king.

A.D. 1039. Harthacnut joins his mother at Bruges.
" The Welsh kill Edwin, brother of Leofric the earl,
and Thurkill, and Elfget, and very many good men with
them.''

A.D. 1040. Harold dies at Oxford, March 17. Hartha-
cnut, invited, comes to Sandwich, June 17.

* See p. 144. 7 Baldwin V., then the husband of her niece,

Eleanora of Normandy.

A.D. I042.] HARTHACNUT. II7

HARTHACNUT.

H ARTH ACNUT, the son of Canute and Emma, is mainly
remarkable for the indignities that he offered to his pre-
decessor's corpse. He, however, kindly received his half-
brother Edward, and thus unwittingly prepared the way
for the restoration of the Saxon line of kings. He died,
without issue, after a reign of about two years.

A.D. 1040. Harthacnut is acknowledged king, " as well
by English as by Danes."

"Harthacnut caused the dead Harold to be taken
up, and had him cast into a fen."

A heavy tax is imposed for the support of the fleet
which had accompanied Harthacnut, " and all were then
averse to him who before had desired him."

The bishops' sees of Cornwall and Devon united
about this time.

A.D. 1041. Worcestershire is ravaged in consequience
of the death of two of the house-carles employed in
collection of the tax.

The king's half-brother Edward returns to England.

" Harthacnut betrayed Eadulf the earl [of North-
umbria], while under his protection, and he became then
a belier of his * wed».' "

A.D. 1042. " King Harthacnut died as he stood at his
drink, and he suddenly fell to the earth with a terrible
convulsion ; and they who were there nigh took hold
on him, and he after that spoke not one word, and he
died on the sixth of the Ides of June" (June 8). His
death occurred at Lambeth, at the marriage of the
daughter of Osgod Clapa, with Tofi the Proud, his
staller % and he was buried in the old minster at Wift-

* " Pledge " or " security." A reference to the summary of Anglo-Saxon
laws (p. 140^ will shew how grievous an offence this was esteemed.

* This officer seems to have been the paster of the royal household in
peace, and the royal standard-bearer in war.

Il8 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IO42 —

Chester. "His mother, for his soul, gave to the new
minster the head of St. Valentine the martyr."

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.

Edward, the son of Ethelred and Emma, was chosen
king, although a son of Edmund Ironside (called Edward
the Outlaw, the father of Edgar Atheling,) was still alive.
He acquired great popularity among his Anglo-Saxon
subjects by the banishment of several eminent persons
of the Danish party, and he was universally admired
for his munificence and piety ^ ; but his reign was little
more than nominal, the real power being exercised by
Godwin and his family.

From politic motives Edward married Edgitha (or
Edith), the daughter of Godwin, but he treated her
harshly from dislike to her kindred. He was a foreigner
in his habits, and instead of conciliating his great nobles,
he surrounded himself with the Norman friends among
whom he had been brought up, and it was his constant
endeavour to avail himself of their services both in
Church and State. The language of his court was
French, and he had French chaplains, on whom he
bestowed bishoprics ; French governors of his castles,
and French body-guards ^ ; but these were all dismissed
on the return of Godwin from the banishment into which
their intrigues had driven him ; and after this event the
king is hardly named in the Chronicle, Harold and his
brethren occupying instead the most conspicuous place.
He died Jan. 5, 1066, at Westminster, and was there
buried.

Although his partiality for foreigners was the imme-
diate cause of the Norman invasion, Edward's ascetic

^ He is also said to have remodelled the laws that Canute had established,
but the fact is very doubtful. See p. 137.

* So they are called by the Saxon Chronicler, though some were Normans
and some Flemings; the term "Frenchman" seems with him always an
expressioD of dislike.

A.D. I044.] EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. II9

life procured him canonization^, and he was esteemed
the patron saint of England until superseded in the 13th
century by St. George ; the translation of his relics from
the old to his new shrine at Westminster, in 1263, still
finds a place on the 13th of October in the English
Calendar, and more than twenty churches exist dedi-
cated either to him, or to Edward the king and martyr.

The arms ascribed to this king, "Azure, a cross
patonce between five martlets, or," though of course
invented long after his time, are of historical import-
ance, they having been assumed by several kings, and
borne as one of the royal standards ; and the quarter-
ing of them by a private individual was, in the reign
of Henry VIII., punished as treason.

A.D. 1043. Edward is crowned at Winchester, on Easter-
day, April 3. "Archbishop Eadsige hallowed him, and
before all the people well instructed him ; and for his
own need, and all the people's, well admonished him."

The king repairs suddenly to Winchester, in Novem-
ber, and despoils his mother of her lands and treasures,
"because she had done less for him than he would,j
before he was king, and also since."

Stigand, bishop of East Anglia, her chief adviser, isr
deprived of his see, " and all that he possessed was seized
into the king's hands."

A.D. 1044. Archbishop Eadsige resigns the government^
of his see, by reason of infinnity, to Siward, abbot oi
Abingdon *.

Robert of Jumieges appointed bishop of London.

Stigand re-obtains his bishopric.

<* From Pope Alexander III. in zi6i, but the matter had been prayed for
by King Stephen in 1138. Numerous miracles are ascribed to him, as
curing the disease since Known as " the king's evil," by his touch ; others
are said to have been worked b]^ his relics.

<^ Siward, who is sometimes incorrectly spoken of as archbishop, died in
X048, when Eadsige resumed the see, and held it till his deaths ia x.Q«ft.

I20 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IO44 —

A great famine in England.
A.B. 1045. The king marries Edgitha, the daughter of
Godwin, Jan. 23.

A large fleet collected at Sandwich, an invasion
being threatened by Magnus of Norway'.

Gunhilda, the widow of Hacon, and her sons, are
banished from England ».

A.D. 1046. Sweyn the earl (son of Godwin), ravages
South Wales, and carries off" the abbess of Leominster.

Osgod Clapa, the favourite of Harthacnut, is ban-
ished ; he retires to Bruges.

The Cornish and Devonshire sees fixed at Exeter.

A very severe winter ; " even birds and fishes per-
ished through the great cold and famine."

A.D. 1047. Sweyn, not being allowed to marry the
abbess, flees to Bruges, when his lands are forfeited.

Kent and Essex ravaged by the ships of Lothen
and Yrling, two Danish chiefs, who retire to Flanders
with their plunder.

A.D. 1048. Sandwich and the Isle of Wight plundered,
and their chief men slain.

A.D. 1049. King Edward assembles a fleet to assist
the emperor (Henry III.) against Baldwin, count of
Flanders.

Sweyn joins the fleet with seven ships, and endea-
vours to obtain the restitution of his lands. His brother
Harold and his kinsman Beom prevent it, when Sweyn
murders Beorn, and then again flees to Bruges.

Osgod Clapa ravages the coast of Essex.

A fleet from Ireland, assisted by the Welsh, devas-
tates the country on the Bristol channel, in July.

'It was averted by Magnus being himself attacked by Sweyn of
Denmark.

( They retired to Bruges, then the capital of Baldwin V. of Flanders, who
had married Adela of France, widow of Richard III. of Normandy. He
seems to have been the general protector of the English fugitives, and when
his lawless proceedings brought upon him the vengeance of the emperor,
Edward readily joined in an expedition against him.

A.D. I05I.] EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 121

A.D. 1050. "Sweyn the earl was inlawed V' and re-
stored to his possessions.

Two English bishops sent to the great synod at
Rome *.

AJ).1061. "Rotbeard the Frenchman" (Robert of Ju-
mieges, bishop of London) is appointed archbishop of
Canterbury, during Lent.

Eustace of Boulogne (husband of Goda, the king's
sister ^) visits England. On his way home he has a con-
flict with the people of Dover, and more than twenty
men are killed on each side. "And Eustace escaped with
a few men, and went again to the king [at Gloucester],
and made known to him, in part, how they had fared.
And the king became very wroth with the townsmen.
And the king sent off Godwin the earl, and bade him
go in a hostile manner to Dover ; for Eustace had made
it appear to the king that it had been more the fault of
the townsmen than his ; but it was not so. And the earl
would not consent to the inroad, because he was loth to
injure his own people."

The king summons a witenagemot at Gloucester, in
September, to which Godwin and his sons repair with the
forces of their earldoms, and demand that Eustace and
his men shall be placed in their hands. The king calls
on Siward of Northumbria and Leofric of Mercia* for aid.

The witenagemot removed to London, where it as-
sembles Sept. 21.

Sweyn is outlawed. Godwin and Harold are sum-
moned to appear, but being refused "safe conduct and

^ See p. 145.

> It was held in May, and condemned the opinions of Berengarius, re-
specting the Eucharist.

^ After her death he married Ida of Lorraine, by whom he was the father
of the celebrated Godfrey of Bouillon. He served with the Normans at the
battle of Hastings, and his son Eustace appears in Domesday as the pos-
sessor of estates m Kent and ix other counties.

' Godwin ruled the whole south and west of England, Sweyn possessed the
tract between the Thames and the Avon, and Harold held the eastern dis-
tricts, as far north as the Wash : the Mercian and Northumbrian earldoms
occupied the rest of the country.

^ Ofl

122 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IO51 —

hostages, so that they might come, unbetrayed, into the
gemot and out of the gemot," they keep away, and are
then allowed "a safe conduct for five nights to go out
of the land"." Godwin and Sweyn retire to Bruges,
Harold and Leofwin his brother go to Ireland ; " and
soon after this happened, then put away the king the
lady who had been consecrated his queen [Godwin's
daughter], and caused to be taken from her all which
she possessed, in land, and in gold, and in silver, and
in all things, and delivered her to his sister in Wher-
well °." . ..." It would have seemed wondrous to every
man who was in England, if any one before that had
said that it should be so, for Godwin had been erewhile
to that degree exalted, as if he ruled the king and all
England ; and his sons were earls and the king's dar-
lings, and his daughter wedded and united to the king."

William of Normandy visits England " with a great
band of Frenchmen ; and the king received him, and
as many of his companions as it pleased him ; and let
him away again."

Spearhafoc, abbot of Abingdon, and bishop elect of
London, is refused consecration by the archbishop**,
and his place supplied by William, a Norman.

The king dismisses a portion of his fleet p.
A.D. 1052. Emma, the king's mother, dies, in March;
she is buried at Winchester.

Harold sails from Ireland, and ravages the shores
of the Bristol channel.

Griffin, the Welsh king, ravages Herefordshire.

"> Notwithstanding this, "the king sent Bishop Aldred [of Worcester]
from London with a force ; and they were to overtake Harold ere he
came on shipboard ; but they could not, or they would not ^

n His sister was abbess of the nunnery at Wherwell, near Andover,
founded by Elfritha.

« The abbot returned to his monastery. He was a skilful ^old-worker,
and we are told by a Norman writer that, being entrusted with materials
for a crown by Wiliiam I., he fled to Norway with the booty.

p He is said by Florence of Worcester also to have abolished the Danegeld,
being moved thereto by a miraculous appearance testifjring the injustice
of the tax ; but the contemporary Chronicle does not mention the matter.

A.D. 1052.] EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 1 23

Godwin sails from Bruges, and, evading the king's
fleet at Sandwich, joins Harold''. "And they did not
much harm after they came together, except that they
seized provisions ; but they enticed to them all the land
folk by the sea coast, and also up the country ; and they
went towards Sandwich, and collected ever forth with
them all the butse-carles [seamen] which they met with ;
and then came to Sandwich with an overflowing army."

The king's fleet having withdrawn, Godwin and
Harold follow it to London, where, after some delay,
a witenagemot was held, before which "Godwin bore
forth his defence ; and there justified himself, before
King Edward his lord, and before all people of the
land, that he was guiltless of that which was laid against
him, and against Harold his son, and all his children.
And the king gave to the earl and his children his
full friendship ; and gave his earldom clean to Godwin
as full and as free as he before possessed it, and to his
wife and his daughter as full and as free as they before
possessed it. And they then established between them
full friendship, and to all the people they promised good
law. And then they outlawed all the Frenchmen, who
before had upreared unjust law, and judged unjust judg-
ments, and counselled ill counsel in this land ; except so
many as they agreed upon, whom the king liked to have
with him, who were true to him and to all his people.

"When Archbishop Robert and the Frenchmen learn-
ed that, they took their horses, and went, some west to
Pentecost's castle, and some north to Robert's castle.
And Archbishop Robert, and Bishop Ulf [of Dorchester,
in Oxfordshire], and their companions, went out at East-
gate, and slew and otherwise injured many young men,
and went their way direct to Eadulfs-ness'; and he there

4 Sweyn had gone on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, in returning from which
he died.

^ ' Eadulfs-ness is the Naze, in Essex. The situation of the castles men-
tioned is not known.

124 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IO52 —

put himself in a crazy ship, and went direct over sea, and
left his pall and all Christendom here on land, so as God
would have it, inasmuch as he had before obtained the
dignity so as God would not have it*.** Stigand suc-
ceeds to the archbishopric.

A.D. 1063. " Hris [Rhys], the Welsh king's brother, was
slain, because he had done harm; and his head was
brought to Gloucester on Twelfth-day eve."

'* In this year was the king at Winchester at Easter,
and Godwin the earl with him, and Harold the earl
his son, and Tostig. Then on the second day of Easter
(April 12) sate he with the king at the feast ; then sud-
denly sank he down by the footstool, deprived of speech
and of all his power, and he was then carried into the
king's chamber, and they thought it would overpass ; but
it did not so ; but he continued on, thus speechless and
powerless, until the Thursday, (April 15,) and then re-
signed his life ; and he lies there within the old minster.
And his son Harold succeeded to his earldom, and re-
signed that which he before held, and Elfgar [son of
Leofric of Mercia] succeeded thereto."

The Welsh make an incursion, *'and slay a groat
number of the English people, of the wardmen, near
Westbury."

A.D. 1054, " This year went Siward the earl [of North-
umbria] with a great army into Scotland, both with
a ship force and with a* land force, and fought against
the Scots, and put to flight King Macbeth, and slew
all who were the chief men in the land, and led thence
much booty, such as no man before had obtained. But
his son Osbem, and his sister's son Siward, and some
of his house-carles, and also of the king's, were there
slain, on the day of the Seven Sleepers," (July 27).

Bishop Aldred, of Worcester, is sent as ambassador
to the emperor (Henry III.) at Cologne.

* Some MSS. make this^ expulsion of the Frenchmen precede the re-
stonuion of Godwin and his family. Robert retired to Jumieges, wher«
he had been abbot, and died before lojo.

A.D. 1056.] EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. I25

"In this year died Osgod Clapa, suddenly, even as
he lay on his bed."

" In this year was there so great a murrain among
cattle, as no man remembered for many years before."

A.D. 1055. Siward the earl dies, early in the year, and
is buried at Galmanho, (in York,) " in the minster which
himself caused to be built, and hallowed in God's and
Olave's name." Tostig, Harold's brother, succeeds to
the government of Northumbria.

A witenagemot is summoned at London, in Mid-
Lent, at which Elfgar is outlawed, "well-nigh without
guilt '."

Elfgar hires a fleet in Ireland, and with the help of
Griffin, king of North Wales ", defeats Ralf the earl *, and
bums Hereford, Oct. 24.

Harold marches against them, and having fortified
Hereford, peace is made. "And then they inlawed
.Elfgar the earl, and gave him all that before had been
taken from him ; and the fleet went to Chester, and
there awaited their pay, which Elfgar had promised
them."

A.D. 1056. Leofgar, the mass-priest (chaplain) of Harold,
is appointed bishop of Hereford. "He forsook his chrism
and his rood, his ghostly weapons, and took to his spear
and to his sword, after his bishophood ; and so went to
the field against Griffin, the Welsh king ; and there was
he slain, and his priests with him, and Elfnoth the shire-
reeve, and many good men with them ; and the others
fled away ; this was eight days before Midsummer,"
Qune 17).

* "Without any kind of guilt," according to another MS. ; whilst a third
says, " It was cast upon him that he was a traitor to the king, and to all the
people of the land. And he made a confession of it before sdl the men who
were there gathered ; though the word escaped him unintentionally."

« The husband of his daughter Aldgitha (or Edith), who afterwards
marries Harold.

* The son of Goda, the king's sister, by her first husband, Drogo of
Mantes, and commander of the Norman mercenaries. He died \]ck& 1<^-
lowing year.

126 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. IO56—

" It is difficult to tell the distress, and the marching
all, and the camping, and the travail and destruction
of men, and also of horses, which all the English army
endured, until Leofric the earl came thither, and Harold
the earl, and Bishop Aldred [of Worcester], and made
a reconciliation there between them ; so that Griffin
swore oaths that he would be to King Edward a faithful
and unbetraying under-king.**

A.D. 1067. " Edward the atheling. King Edmund's son,
came hither to land, and soon after died ; and his body
is buried within St. Paul's minster at London ^."

"In the same year died Leofric the earl, on the second
of the calends of October, [Sept. 30] ; he was very wise
for God, and also for the world, which was a blessing to
all this nation. He lies at Coventry ; and his son Elfgar
succeeded to his government."

A.D. 1068. Elfgar is again outlawed, but soon reinstated,
" with violence," by the aid of Griffin of North Wales.

"And this year came a fleet from Norway; it is
longsome to tell how all these matters went."

Bishop Aldred, of Worcester, having built the
minster at Gloucester, goes to Jerusalem, by way of
Hungary, "with such splendour as none other had
displayed before him, and himself there devoted to
God ; and a worthy gift he also offered to our Lord's
tomb, that was a golden chalice of. five marks of very
wonderful work."

Although Palestine had fallen into the* hands of the
Mohammedans early in the seventh century, it was not
until about the close of the tenth that any serious diffi-
culty was opposed to the pilgrimages which, at least
as early as the time of Constantine (a.d. 313 — 337),
it had become usual to make to the scenes? sanctified
by the presence and sufferings of the Redeemer. The
caliph Hakem, who ruled Egypt and Syria, in the year

y One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle has a poetical lament for him, mani-
^rntfy written after the Normsm invasion.

A.D. 1065.] EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 1 27

1009 forbade the resort of pilgrims, and destroyed the
church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem; but this
persecution ceased with his death, and, warned by the
outrages they had suffered, the pilgrims now generally
travelled in bodies able and willing to defend them-
selves if assailed. Such, probably, was the case with
the Bishop Aldred and his company, as it certainly
was a few years after (a.D. 1064) with the archbishop
of Mentz, who, accompanied by three bishops and
7,000 men, proceeded to the Holy City, and on the
way sustained a siege in a deserted castle until re-
lieved for a sum of money by a Saracen emir. These
armed pilgrims were the precursors of the vast hosts
which, before the close of the century, established the
Christian kingdom of Jerusalem.

A.D. 1061. Tostig and his wife' make a journey to
Rome.

A.D.1063. Harold and Tostig invade Wales, both by
sea and land.

The country is subdued. Griffin is killed by his
own people, Aug. 5, and his head sent to Harold, who
brings it to the king.

Blethgent and Rigwatla*, Griffin's brothers, swear
fealty to the king, and are allowed to govern the land.

A.B.1065. The Welsh, under Caradoc, son of Griffin,
destroy a fort at Portskewet, (Forth Iscoed, near Chep-
stow,) which Harold had erected, Aug. 24.

The people of Northumbria rise against Tostig's
government**, outlaw him, and kiU his house-carles,
and seize his treasures, in October. They choose Morcar,
son of Elfgar, for their earl.

Morcar, being joined by his brother Edwin and
many Britons, marches south as far as Northampton.

• Judith, sister of Baldwin V. of Flanders ; Tostig was consequently
a connection by marriage of William of Normandy.
» Called Blethin and R^wallon, by Welsh writers.
^ Tostig was then at Britford, in Wiltshire, with the Vi\v^.

128 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. I065 — 1066,

Harold being sent against them, "they laid an errand
upon him to King Edward, and also sent messengers
with him, and begged that they might have Morcar
for their earP. And the king granted it, and sent
Harold again to them at Northampton, on the eve of
St. Simon's and St. Jude's mass, (Oct. 27) ; and he made
known the same to them, and delivered a pledge thereof
unto them, and he there renewed Canute's law**. And
the northern men did much harm about Northampton the
while that he went on their errand, inasmuch as they
slew men, and burned houses and com, and took all
the cattle which they might come at, that was many
thousand ; and many hundred men they took and led
north with them ; so that that shire, and the other
shires which there are nigh, were for many years the
worse."

Tostig, with his wife, "and all those who would what
he would," retires to Flanders, to Earl Baldwin.

" King Edward came to Westminster at midwinter,
(Christmas,) and there caused to be hallowed the minster
which himself had built to the glory of God and of St.
Peter, and of all God's saints ; and the church-hallowing
was on Childermass-day," (Dec. 28).

A.D. 1066. King Edward dies, Jan. 5 ; he is buried at
Westminster the next day, " within the newly -hallowed
church."

HAROLD II.

Harold, the son of Godwin, immediately succeeded
Edward, either chosen by a general assembly, or, as is

« Harold is often blamed, as if he had acted in an unfriendly way by
Tostig, but the following testimony from the Cottonian MS. of the Saxon
Chronicle is strongly in his favour : *' There was a great p^emot at Oxford ;
and there was Harold the earl, and would work a reconciliation if he might,
but he could not ; but all Tostig's earldom him unanimously forsook and
outlawed, and all who with him lawlessness upreared, because he robbed
God first, and all those bereaved over whom he had power of life and land."

* Seep. X37.

HAROLD II. 129

asserted, named by him on his death-bed • ; the claims
of Edgar Atheling being in either case passed over ; but
though at once hallowed king, " he with little quiet abode
therein, the while that he wielded the realm." His brief
reign of "forty weeks and one day" saw two formidable
invasions of the country, and three great battles, the last
of which swept away the Saxon rule, which, though
undergoing many modifications from Northern or Danish
influences, had endured for more than six centuries.

The crown of England was immediately claimed by
William of Normandy, on the strength of an alleged
bequest, which Edward certainly was not entitled to
make, and a promise which shipwreck had enabled him
to extort from Harold. Of course compliance was not
expected, and William collected a force not only from
his own state, but from foreign countries ; Tostig, Ha-
rold's brother, (but recently driven from England,) in
conjunction with the king of Norway, invaded Yorkshire,
and though defeated and killed, left the Anglo-Saxon
state so weakened, that the success of the Norman ad-
venturers was assured.

It may be regarded as certain, that Harold, as well as
his brothers Gyrth and Leofwin, fell at Hastings, and
as most probable that he was buried at Waltham, in the
church of his own foimdation ; although William of Poi-
tiers says that he was insultingly interred on the sea-
shore, by the order of the conqueror', and a tradition

c One MS. of the Saxon Chronicle says, "Harold the earl succeeded to
the kingdom of England, even as the kin^ had gpranted it to him, and men
also had him chosen thereto." The Hemiskringla, or Chronicle of the
Kings of Norway, in the saga of Harold Hardrada, gives this account of
Harold's accession : '* It is said that when the king was approaching his
last hour, Harold and a few others were with him. Harold nrst leant down
over the king, and then said, ' I take you all to witness that the king has
now given me the kingdom, and sdl the realm of England,' and then the
king was taken dead out of bed. The same day there was a meeting of
the chiefs, at which there was some talk of choosing a king, and then
Harold brought forward his witnesses that King Edward had given him
the kingdom on his dying day."

f It is possible that both stories are true. The dead king may have beea
thus interred at first, and subsequently removed to Waltham.

'130 TUt SAXON ERA. [A.D. I066.

tnet with in Giraldus Cambrensis, and repeated by later
ivriters, asserts that he escaped from the field with th6
loss of his left eye, and lived as a heraiit at Chester until
the time of Henry I. »

Harold was twice married. His first wife's name is
unknown ; his second was Aldgitha, the relict of Griffin,
prince of North Wales, and sister of the earls Edwin
and Morcar ; she survived him, and lived in England
until her death, which is believed to have happened
in 1075. ^is sons, Godwin, Edmund, and Magnus \
retired to Norway with their sister Githa, who married
Waldemar, a prince of Holgard ; Gunhilda, another
daughter, (who is said to have been cured of blindness
by Wolstan, the bishop of Worcester,) fled to Flanders
with Harold's mother Githa, and his sister Gunhilda ;
the latter became a nun at Bruges, and died (as ap-
pears by her monumental plate, still in existence,) Aug.
24, 1087.

Of all Harold's brothers, Tostig alone seems to have
left issue. Skule, his son, married Gudrun, the niece of
Harold Hardrada, and founded a powerful house in Nor-
way*; and Judith his widow re -married with Welf of
Bavaria, of the same stock as the house of Brunswick.

. A.B. 1066. Harold is crowned at Westminster, by Arch-
bishop Aldred, January 6.

Harold visits the north, but returns to Westminster
at Easter.

William of Normandy makes a formal claim of
the crown of England ; it is refused, and Harold raises

ff Another tradition affirms that Gyrth also survived the battle, and lived
till the time of Henry II., with whom he had an interview, and to whom he
stated that Harold had not been buried at Waltham ; but the tale is con-
sidered a mere fabrication intended to damage the renown of that abbey.

>> " Harold, the son of King Harold," is mentioned by William of Mabnes-
bury as accomi>anying Magnus III. in his expedition to the Hebrides and
teore southern islands in xooS.

* Ketil, a second son of TMtig, is mentioned in the Sagas.

A.i). I066.J HAROLD II. 131-

a fleet and army to watch the sea-coast, whilst William*
prepares for an invasion.

Tostig arrives at the Isle of Wight, with a fleet, at
the end of April ; he attempts a 'landing on the Isle of
Thanet, but is repulsed.

Harold repairs to his fleet at Sandwich, and Tostig
retires to the H umber, where he ravages Lincolnshire,
but is defeated by the earls Edwin and Morcar, and
deserted by his sailors ; he flees to Scotland.

Harold is obliged to dismiss his fleet for want of
provisions, Sept. 8.

Harold Hardrada^, king of Norway, arrives in the
Tyne early in September ; Tostig " submits to him, and
becomes his man ;" they bum Scarborough \ and after-
wards land near Selby.

Edwin and Morcar defeated at Fulford, near York,
by Harold Hardrada and Tostig, Sept. 20.

The people about York submit to the Norwegians,
and agree to assist them.

Harold advances from London by forced marches
against them.

Harold arrives, and passes through York, Sept. 24 " j

^ Harold Hftrdrada, or the Stern^ (a descendant of Harold Harfasra, and
cousin of Olaf the Saint,) is the subject of the last saga of the Heimskringla.
He had long served in the armies of the Eastern emperors, had made him-
self master of Norway, married the daughter of the grand duke of Russia,
and was esteemed one of the most renowned warriors of his time. He was
in his fiftieth year when he invaded Eneland.^ " He was," says his saga,
"stem and severe to his enemies, bountifm to his friends," a patron of bards,
and a. bard himself. "He was a handsome man, of noble appearance ; his
hair and beard yellow. He had a short beard, and long moustachios ; the
one evebrow was somewhat higher than the other ; he had large hands and
feet, but these were well made. His height was five ells," or more thai)
eight English feet, and he appeared in his last field attired in "a blue kirtle
which reached his knees, and a beautiful helmet."

' The Heimskringla thus describes the burning of the town, which may
give an idea of. the mode in which warfare was then usuall>[ carried on:

The king went up a hill and made a great pile upon it, which he set on
fire, and when the pile was in clear flame, his men took large forks, and
pitched the burning wood down into the town, so that one house caught five
after the other and the town surrendered."

■> The castle of York surrendered on Sunday, September 34, and the
Heimskringla says, the Norwegians retired to Uieir ships, vdtk ^^ >as!^«\<^

I'32 THE SAXON ERA. [A.D. Io66.

he encounters the Norwegians at Stamford-bridge, where
they are totally defeated, Sept. 25. Harold Hardrada
and Tostig are slain, and " the king then gave his pro-
tection to Olaf, son of the king of the Norwegians, and
to their bishop, and to the earl of Orkney, and to all
those who were left in the ships ; and they then went
up to our king, and swore oaths that they ever would
observe peace and friendship towards this land, and the
king let them go home with twenty-four ships."

William of Normandy sails from St. Valery, Sept. 26,
and arrives at Pevensey, Sept. 28, "on the eve of St.
Michael's mass"." The Normans fortify a camp near
Hastings, and from it plunder the country.

Harold, hearing of their arrival, marches southward,
and arrives in sight of their position, Oct. 13.

The battle of Hastings", Oct. 14. "William came

standing that on the following day hostages were to be given them at Stam-
ford-bridge. They landed accordingly m the morning ; *' the weather was
uncommonly fine, and it was hot sunshine. ,The^ men therefore laid aside
their armour, and went on the land with their shields, helmets, and spears,
and girt with swords, and many had also arrows and bows, and all were
very merry." An approaching crowd, at first taken for the hostages, was
soon found to be the English army, and Tostig counselled a retreat to their
ships, but his advice was rejected. Harold advanced with a small party,
and offered the third of his kingdom to Tostig rather than fight with a
brother, but refused more than a grave for the Norwegian king. Tostig
declined to break faith with his ally ; and when afterwa^s reproached by
him for allowing his brother to withdraw in safety, is said to have made
a reply, tfie noble sentiment of which, however it may redeem his^ own cha-
racter, usually painted in such dark colours, affords no compensation for the
evils that his invasion brought upon his country*, *'I saw," he said, "that
he was going to offer me peace, and a great dominion, and that on the other
hand I shomd be his murderer if I betrayed him ; and I would rather he
should be my miuxlerer than I his, if one of the two be to die." Hardrada
at once prepared for battle, merely^ making a remark which is worthy of
preservation as one of our few notices of Harold's personal appearance:
" He is a little man, but he sat firmly in his stirrups." He probably spoke
with reference to his own stature, as Orderic tells us Harold was dis-
tinguished for his great size and strength, also for his polished manners,
firmness, eloquence, ready wit, and " many other excellent qualities.'*

" Another MS. of the^ Saxon Chronicle says, *' St Michael's-mass-day ;**
Norman authors, too, differ in their dates for the sailing of the fleet ; but
there is no real contradiction, as so large a force could hardly be embarked
or disemWked in a single day.

• Sudi is the usual name, but the conflict occurred about nine miles from
^hat town, in the place where now stand the remains of Battle Abbey. It is
abo called the battle of Senlac by some early writers.

A.D. Io66.] HAROLD II. 133

against Harold unawares, before his people were set in
order. But the king nevertheless strenuously fought
against him with those men who would follow him ;
and there was great slaughter made on either hand.
There was slain King Harold, and Leofwin the earl,
his brother, and Gyrth the earl, his brother, and many
good men ; and the Frenchmen had possession of the
place of carnage, all as God granted them for the
people's sins. . . . This fight was done on the day of
Calixtus the pope p."

The Normans return to Hastings, expecting the
submission of the Saxons.

Edgar Atheling is meanwhile chosen king at London,
** as was his true natural right *»."

William the Norman, seeing the people do not come
in to him, goes upward, ''with all his army which was
left to him, and that which afterwards had come from
over sea to him ; and he plundered all that part which
he overran, until he came to Berkhampstead."

Archbishop Aldred, of York ', Edgar Atheling, Ed-
win and Morcar, and all the chief men of London, meet

•

P The Chronicle of Wales relates the brief reig^ of Harold in a very dif-
ferent spirit ; but it must be remembered that he had been their conqueror.
" Harold king of Denmark meditated the subjection of the Saxons ; whom
another Harold^ the son of Earl Godwin, who was then king in England,
surprised, unexpectedly and unarmed, and by sudden attack, aided by
national treachenr, struck him to the ground, and caused his death. That
Harold who, at first earl through cruelty, after the death of King Edward
unduly acquired the sovereignty of the kingdom of England, was despoiled
of his kingdom and life by William the Bastard, duke of Normandy, though
previously vauntingly victorious. And that William defended the kingdom
of England with an invincible hand, and his most noble army."

4 He seems to have been considered as king for some time after the fatal
battle of Hastings, for upon the death of Leofric, abbot of Peterborough, on
Nov. I, Brand the provost was chosen to succeed him, and sent for approval
to Edgar, " who granted it him then blithely. When King William heard
that, then was he very wroth, and said that the abbot had despised him :
then went good men between them, and reconciled them, by reason that
the abbot was a good man. Then gave he the king forty marks of gold for
a reconciliation ; and then thereafter lived he a little while, but three jyrears.
After that came every evil and every tribulation to the minster — God have
mercy on it."

' He had been bishop of Worcester, but was removed to York, shortly
after his return from hb pilgrimage. See a.d. Z058.

134 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

him there and submit to him ; " and he vowed to them
that he would be a loving lord to them ; and neverthe-
less, during this, the Frenchmen plundered all that they
overran."

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

This, the closing period of the Anglo-Saxon rule,
appears the proper place for a brief sketch of the social
and political state of their commonwealth, such as may
be deduced from what remains to us of its laws and
institutes •. These laws are manifestly only a very small
portion of the jurisprudence of our forefathers, but they
are sufficient to establish the fact that their state was
one in which the ranks of society were accurately de-
fined, and the rights of property strictly guarded.

The earliest of these documents is a code issued (circa
600) by Ethelbert of Kent, which, though commencing
with a provision for the protection of the property of God
and the Church ', gives no further evidence of proceed-
ing from a Christian ruler, being probably little else
than a summary of the laws prevailing in heathen times ;
it imposes penalties for slaying, for house-breaking, for
highway robbery, and for personal injuries, which are
minutely detailed, and defines the portions of widows
and orphans. Hlothere and Edric of Kent (circa 680)
add directions for conducting lawsuits, make hosts re-
sponsible for the conduct of strangers who had resided
three days with them, and forbid quarrels and slander.

■ The following summary is drawn from the Ancient Laws and Institutes
of England and of Wales, edited by Messrs. Thorpe and Owen, and pub*
lished under the direction of the Record Commissioners in 1840, 1841.

* The term used is " God's fee," but whether tithes are included has been
disputed. It is, however, quite certain that tithes existed in England in the
time of ilrchbishop Theodore (a.d. 669 to 690) ; and the laws ascribed to
Edward the Confessor speak of them as claimed bv Augustine and conceded
by the king, with the approbation of the chiefs and people, which is probably
true, though no direct evidence of the fact has come down to us.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT, I35

The laws of Wihtred of Kent (circa 696) present the
first distinct picture of a Christian state in our island*
They grant to the Church freedom from imposts *, fori
bid inmiorality and Sunday working, regulate fasting
at certain times, and prohibit idolatry ; they also con-
tain severe enactments against thieves.

Ina of Wessex and Offa of Mercia in the next century
issued laws, which were published with his own by Al-
fred *, and through the whole runs one great distinction
from the Mosaic law ; for although avowedly basing
all legislation on the Bible, *' blood for blood" is no(
the rule, but every homicide can be atoned for by a
money payment (termed wer-gild) varying according
to the rank of the parties. Alfred also, in his own
" dooms," though they commence with the decalogue and
embody many portions of the Mosaic code, expressly
says that " synods had ordained that secular lords, with
their leave, might, without sin, take for almost every
misdeed, for the first offence, the money-bote (compen*
sation) which they then ordained, except in cases of
treason against a lord, to which they dared not assign
any mercy."

Alfred is commonly spoken of as the great lawgiver
of the Anglo-Saxon period, but he himself informs us
that the laws which he promulgated contained little of
his own, " for it was unknown to him what of it would
please those who should come after him ;" he therefore
merely made a selection from existing laws, and it is
certain that the division of England into shires did not
originate with him, the " shire-man or other judge" being
mentioned by Ina ; the division into hundreds may pro-
bably be his.

The laws of succeeding monarchs are chiefly remark-
able as proving that the Danes settled in England lived

" Seep. 141. * Those of Offa «x^\s«x.

136 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

under their own laws ; Edward the Elder (901 — 924)
says that penalties which among the Saxons are esti-
mated in shillings, are by the Danes reckoned by ores,
twelve of the latter being equivalent to forty of the
former ^ : and Edgar (circa 970) expressly allows them
to make " such good laws as they best may choose."
Ethelred, indeed, issued an ordinance from Woodstock
" for the whole nation, according to the law of the Eng-
lish," but there seems no reason for supposing that so
feeble a ruler could effect any alteration in their state.
Under Canute, of course they preserved their own in-
stitutions, but they do not seem to have imposed them
upon the rest of the nation ; for he expressly and se-
parately mentions the king's rights under the Wessex,
and the Mercian, and the Danish laws. Canute's "se-
cular ordinance" (which embodies many of the pro-
visions of an ordinance of Ethelred dated 1008) com-
mences, " That is then the first that I will ; that just
laws be established, and every unjust law carefully sup-
pressed, and that every injustice be weeded out and
rooted up with all possible diligence from this country.
And let God's justice be exalted, and henceforth let
every man, both poor and rich, be esteemed worthy of
folk right, and let just dooms be doomed to him." Such,
indeed, seems its intention, and it strongly impresses
the duty of mercy on the judge. "We command that
Christian men be not, on any account, for altogether
too little condemned to death : but rather let gentle
punishments be decreed for the benefit of the people,
and let not be destroyed for little God's handy- vork,
and His own purchase which He dearly bought." He
then proceeds to prohibit selling slaves to heathens, and
the practice of any kind of witchcraft, and decrees that
manslayers and perjurers and others who will not re-
form, shall " with their sins retire from the country."

1 See note, p. 144,

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT* I37

What follows differs little from the laws of preceding
kings, but Canute also ordains that councils shall be
held in the towns twice, in the shires thrice in the
year, at which the bishop and the ealdorman are to
be present, to expound both the law of God and the
secular law ; protects women from forced marriages,
regulates the term of widowhood, also wills and suc-
cessions, relieves from the payment of heriot the pro-
perty of those who fall in battle, decrees the forfeiture
of life and land to cowards, alleviates public burdens*,
and concedes the liberty of hunting ■ ; and though this
liberty is somewhat limited by his Constitutions of the
Forest, these are reasonable ordinances compared with
the forest laws of the Norman kings.

Edward the Confessor is often said to have re-
modelled the laws of Canute, but no mention is made of
the circumstance in the Saxon Chronicle, and what have
come down to us as the "laws of Saint Edward" are
merely a compilation, made, as stated in the document
itself, four years after the Norman invasion, of the laws
and customs of the land, which had been approved by
Canute, and, it is alleged, derived their origin from Ed-
gar, though many of their provisions are the same as
those of the laws of Alfred and Ina.

It does not appear that foreigners were considered
under obligation to conform to the ordinary laws of
the country. Thus, if they refused to lead an orderly
life, Canute, copying Wihtred, does not attempt to re-
strain them, but says, "let them depart with their pro-
perty and their sins ;" at the same time they are de-

■ "This then is the alleviation which it is my will to secure to all the
people, of that which they before this were too much oppressed with. That
then is first ; that I command all my reeves that they justly i>rovide on my
own, and maintain me therewith ; and that no man need give them any-
thing unless he himself be willing."

• " And I will that every man be entitled to his hunting, in wood and
in field, on his own possession. And let every one forego my hunting;
take notice where I will have it untrespassed on, under penalty of the
foU wite."

138 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT,

clared under the especial protection of the king^ and
heavy penalties are denounced against judges who give
unrighteous decisions against " men from afar."

It is apparent from these various codes that the people
were the source of power, and that the kings were ori-
ginally their elected leaders, not their masters ; the un-
divided land was not the property of the king, but of
the nation, and hence termed folkland, being ordinarily
granted out for brief periods to the freemen of each
district ; but power was conceded to rulers to assign
permanently portions by charter in certain cases (often
to the Church, but more frequently for military service),
which then became bookland, and was devisable by will.

The possession of land, indeed, was essential to dignity
and freedom, and the various classes of freemen were
mainly distinguished by the amount of their landed
property. If a churl possessed "a helm, and a coat
of mail, and a sword ornamented with gold," and had
not five hides of land, he remained of churlish degree,
but if he had the land also, he was " thaneworthy,"
and capable of office. With the increase of his pro-
perty his privileges and his value in the eye of the
law increased also ; for one main feature of Anglo-Saxon
legislation, from which modern ideas greatly differ, was
inequality before the law, in consequence of which, not
only damage to a man's person or property, but his
protection to others {mund)y his oath, and even his life,
was estimated according to his rank.

It was imperative on every man who desired to be
accounted "lawful and true," to give borh (or surety)
for his good behaviour and obedience to the laws, and
this was accomplished by associations of small numbers
of freemen, which were collectively responsible for the
acts of all the members. To regulate these matters,
an assembly, termed hundred-gemot, was held monthly
of all the freemen of each district, and from the king

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT, 139

having a claim for wite for every offence, his reeve
attended it twice in the year, a custom which prevailed
long after Saxon times, and was called the sheriff's tourn
(circuit), and view of frankpledge.

Other meetings were held at stated periods, which
seem to have had full power to do justice between
man and man. Such was the folk-mote, or general
assembly of the people, sometimes of a shire, some-
times of a town, held annually in May ; the shire-mote,
or county court, which met twice, and the burgh-mote,
which assembled thrice in the year ; and assemblies with
more limited powers, called hall-motes and ward-motes,
were apparently very frequent **.

Very great importance was attached to the holding of
these assemblies. No man was allowed to resort to the
king for justice until he had applied first to the hundred,
and then to the shire-mote, and it was the bounden duty
of every freeman to attend them; neglect entailed im^
prisonment, and, if he could not give suitable security,
a forfeiture of all his property. The king's special pro*
tection was extended to every man going to or returning
from the mote, " except he was a notorious thief."

These laws, however, only relate to the free portion
of the community, for it is unquestionable that a con-
siderable section was in a state of bondage more or
less severe. We may clearly discern (i) persons whose
state is less than free in consequence of conquest, (2)
slaves by sale affected either by themselves or their
parents % (3) thieves sold into slavery, and (4) slaves
rendered such by non-payment of penalties for infraction
of the laws i^te-theow),

^ After the settlement of the Northmen, the husting (an assembly within
a house, as distinguished from the open air meetings of the Anglo-Saxons)
is also mentioned; but, unlike its Northern original, (see a.d. 1012,) it
seems rather to have been one of the king's courts than a popular assembly.

The laws authorize the sale of a child of seven years by its parents, and
the sale of himself by one of thirteen ; the consequence, probably, of the
grievous famines which are often recorded in the Saxon Chronicle*

140 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

'i ■ M ^M ^^^^^1 mi^ ^^^^^^iM I iiM I I - — ■ • — ■ —

In the first class may be placed the "Wealh*' or
foreigners, probably the descendants of Britons who
had preferred submission to a retreat to the mountain
fastnesses of the west ; and the Laet, whose actual posi-
tion is uncertain **. It would seem that these two classes
were not slaves, in the full meaning of the term, for
they, together with those who had bartered their free-
dom, are in some cases ordered to make compensation
for injuries done by them, which shews that they must
have enjoyed some rights of property. But the thief
and the wite-theow were slaves indeed, to be punished
only by scourging, or mutilation, or death ; and all in-
juries done to them are to be paid for, not to them-
selves or their kindred, but to their master.

The jealousy and conflict of jurisdiction between the
Church and State which so unhappily marked succeed-
ing ages seems to have been unknown to the Saxon
commonwealth. The archbishops and bishops appear
prominently in the record of the proceedings of every
great council which has been preserved to us, and both
ecclesiastical and secular laws were commonly pro-
pounded in the same assembly'. The witenagemot,
or great council of the nation, does not appear to have
had any definite organization, at least there are no
traces of such in the laws before us, although its powers
were manifestly more extended than those of our modem
parliament; the names recorded shew that the clergy

^ All that seems clear is, that they held an inferior position to the free
men. Some writers state that they were German colonists, who had re-
ceived lands from the Romans, and whose rights had been respected by
the invaders ; whilst others assert, that they were slaves who had accom-
panied those invaders from the Continent. •

• Ecclesiastical censures were employed to assist the civil power. The
"wed," or pledge to abide trial or perform any lawful obligation, being
always accompanied by an oath, its breach was perjury, whicn by Alfred^
law subjected the offender to forty days' imprisonment in the king's

tower, "and there to suffer whatever the bishop might prescribe for
him : ' to resist this arrest, endangered life ; " if he be slain, let him lie
uncompensated;" and to flee from it was to incur outlawry and excom-
inunication.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT. I4I

of every degree from the archbishop to the deacon,
with the ealdormen, the great landowners, and men
learned in the law, met together under the presidency
of the king, but whether at his command, or according
to custom, at given times and places, cannot be satis-
factorily determined. Easter and Christmas are the
times, and London, Gloucester and Oxford the places,
most frequently named in the Saxon Chronicle in con-
nection with the meetings of the witan.

The Church, both in its property and its ministers,
was amply cared for by the Anglo-Saxon lawgivers.
Ethelbert ordained that property stolen from the Church
should be replaced twelve-fold, whilst for that of the
king a retribution of nine- fold sufficed; and Alfred added
the penalty of the loss of the hand for sacrilege, unless
the offender redeemed it by a heavy payment The
word of the archbishop, like that of the king, was suffi-
cient without an oath, and a priest could clear himself
of a charge by his own oath, whilst laymen of the
highest rank were obliged in addition to find a number
of compurgators'. The Church's lands, too, were by
Wihtred freed from all imposts, but by this it appears
that exemption from the customary payments for castles,
bridges, and the military force (styled " the three needs,"
Trinoda necessitas), was not intended. The right of
sanctuary was strictly guarded, and any breach of the
Church's peace met with as severe punishment as that
of the king.

The clergy, as a class, ranked highly. The arch-
bishop's value in the eye of the law is never less than
that of the atheling, and in some cases, as in ex-
tending protection to "death-worthy men," he appears,
from the laws of Ethelred, to have been the equal of
the king. The bishops are esteemed as highly as the
ealdormen, and the simple priests as thanes ; but when

f See p. X46.

t4^ ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

the monastic rule prevailed, the married clergy were con-
sidered unworthy of thane-right.

As regarded the head of the State, the principle of
hereditary succession was little valued, and on the death
of a king the one of his kindred considered most eligible
was frequently chosen to the exclusion of his son, as
we see in the cases of Alfred and Edred ^,

The Anglo-Saxon king and his family however pos-
sessed most of the rights and immunities which have
belonged to royalty in later times, and some to which
it now lays no claim. Plotting against his life was
" death- worthy," as also was any brawl in his house or
presence ; his word sufficed, without an oath ; treasure-
trove was his, a valuable matter in those times ^ ; the
possessions of outlaws were forfeited to him ; he alone
might have a mint * ; all markets and all ordeals were
to be held within his towns ; a wi/e, or fine, to him
was incurred by every breach of the law, beside the
amends to the party injured ; the breach of his grith^
or peace, contempt of his commands, and violation of
his mund, or security granted to any one, were severely
punished. He alone had soc, or jurisdiction, over per-
sons of high rank ; he had right to all wrecks, to tolls,
to the profits of markets and of mines ; the forests
were his (perhaps as the trustee of the people), and no
hunting in them could be practised without his per-
mission ; it also seems probable that neither bridge nor
castle could be built without his leave.

The king was the last resort of justice, and the foun-
tain of honour and mercy ; he was to be " prayed for

K See A.D. 866, 94a

i> Not only did war cause many to bury their treasures in the earth, but
while the country was yet heathen it was customary to place many valuable
articles in the tombs of chiefs, and it appears that this heathen gold" was
not always respected in later times.

' So says the law of Ethelred ; but that there were exceptions to the rule
is proved by the very numerous coins of archbishops and others that have
been preserved.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMEN'T. I4J

and revered of all men of their own will, without com-
mand ;*' he was the especial protector of all churches,
of widows, and of foreigners ^ ; he was bound to visit
each district of his kingdom to dispense justice, but
the inhabitants in return were to provide for his safety,
and thus every freeman was obliged to assist in build-
ing or fortifying the royal residences ; he could grant
land to his servants, and thus ennoble them ; he com-
manded, ordinarily in person, the national forces {fyrd)y
and was empowered to allow of money compositions
instead of actual service ; he could remit punishments
incurred, and in many cases had arbitrary jurisdiction,
certain classes of offences leaving their perpetrators at
his mercy (" ad misericordiam "), either to slay, or fine,
or imprison, or banish.

Very little appears in these laws regarding the queen *
she would seem to have been regarded merely as the
king's wife, as far as any mention in them goes ; but
we know from the Saxon Chronicle that Ethelwulf caused
his queen to be crowned, and it appears that Emma, the
wife of Ethelred II., had the city of Exeter for her pos-
session, and governed by her own officers ; whence it
may be concluded that her rights and possessions were
considerable, although the lawgivers may not have con-
sidered it necessary to specify them. The same remark
applies to the younger branches of the royal family ;
they -are all styled athelings, and where their rights
are mentioned, the penalties for their violation are
generally one-half of those for similar offences against
the king.

^ The resort of trading foreieners was encourag;ecl by^ protection and
immunities, but with regard to the ** Wealh," or Britons, intercourse with
them was limited by the rule found in the Ordinance of the Dun-Seatas«
(probably the people on the Wye,) that neither English nor Welsh should
pass into the other's land " without the appointed man of the country,'*
— i.e. the latimer, or interpreter, a public officer who held his lands by
that service, an early example of the feudal system — and if either was
killed, only one' half of the were was to be paid : " be he thane-bom, be
he chiurl-bom, one half of the were falls away.'

144 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

Among secular men, the ealdorman was next to the
king in dignity ; indeed, not unfrequently a viceroy j
but with the settlement of the Northmen the title gra-
dually was displaced by that of earl, which has a more
strictly military meaning, and from its use for the title
of the president of a guild it sank into its present sense
of a municipal officer.

The military retainers of the king were of course of
very various degrees of dignity, but, as is the case in
Russia at the present day, military rank appears to
have been the standard by which other orders were
judged. At first they seem to have been styled ge-
siths, afterwards thanes, and to have been supported by
assignments of the folkland, or public property ^ ; but
thane-right was also possessed by priests and judges,
in virtue of their office, and it could be acquired by
merchants and even churls in certain specified cases,
as by the performing three distant voyages by the for-
mer, and the acquisition of a given quantity of land by
the latter ".

The laws assign pecuniary compensations" and pe-
nalties for every injury done to the freeman, either iR
person or property. His life is to be atoned for by
a wer-gildj for bodily injury a bote is payable, being,

1 In the later times of the Saxon rule we meet with House-carles, a kind
of rojral body-guard ; they seem to have been introduced, under the name
of Thingamen, by Canute, and the custom of employing them extended to
the great nobles, as we read of the house-carles of Siward and Tostig, the
earls of Northumberland.

™ In the treaty between Ethelred and Anlaf (a.d. 994) are several pro-
visions relatine to merchants, which prove that, instead of being mere
ravagers, as they are often represented, the Northmen were in the habit
of tradine with many foreign countries, though doubtless well armed, and
not unwilling to mix piracy with their traffic if the occasion arose ; but
if this be considered a proof of barbarism, even our own nation must be
condemned in much rnore modern times.

■ The pound, shilling, penny, and sceat, the mancus, marc, and ora, are
mentioned in these laws, but their values are not accurately known. It
seems probable, however, that the penny consisted of j^ sceats, the shilling
of 5 pennies, the pound of 48 shillings ; except in Mercia, where the pound
was divided into 60 shillings : the mancus and the marc were about one-
eighth, and the ora one-sixteenth, of the pound. The ordinary estimate is,
th»t money was then about twenty times its present worth.

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT. 145

as amends to dignity, highest when any disfiguranent
is occasioned ^ ; the breach of the peace of his hotise*
hold is heavily visited, and his stolen cattle or slaves
are to be paid for, either by the offender or his kindred ;
and in addition, a «////, or fine, in every case accrues
to the king for the breach of his peace. Thus hx the
Anglo-Saxon laws avoid bloodshed ; but ofiences against
the state, or its representative the king, are far other-
wise dealt with. Treason against a lord, Alfred declares
he dare not pardon ; fighting in the king's hall, coining,
and many other state offences, are "death-worthy ;** and
among the customary punishments are mentioned be-
heading, hanging, burning, drowning, casting from a
height, stoning, and breaking the neck ; scourging, brand-
ing, and many kinds of mutilation, as scalping, loss of
hands, feet, eyes, nose, and ears ; and exile ^

One essential part of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence was
the ordeal, which was divided into three kinds, — hot
iron, hot water, cold water. The trial could only take
place in the king's town, in a church, and under the

BttiDliSoMtte.

The above com is inteiestu^; as shewing how the eariy Saxon moneyers
attempted to copy the devices foond on Roman coins, then probably the
chief currency of the country. The monarch intended is altogether un<
known, but the figures on the reverse are considered as meant for imitations
of the seated figures witih a winged Victory bdiind so common on the ira<
perial coinage.

o Ethelbert ordains a penalty of three shiUii^ " for the smallest disfigure-
ment of the face.** Also, " If the bruise be black in a part not covered by
the clothes, thirty sceats." And Alfred says, " For every wound before the
hair, and before the sleeve, and beneath the knee, the bote is two parts
more.

146 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

superintendence of the priests; and, however much
derided in modem times, there was doubtless intended
a reverent appeal to God, and a firm belief that He
would not suffer the innocent to be put to open shame ' ;
the cold water ordeal was founded on the idea, unphilo-
sophical no doubt, but as surely not irreligious, that
water was too pure to receive any guilty thing into its
bosom.

The formerly received idea as to the origin of trial
by jury has no support from these laws. The Anglo-
Saxon mode of trial seems to have been, the "fore-
oath" of the accuser, and the "lade" or purgation of
the accused, each supported by the oath of given num-
bers of persons as to their trust-worthiness, (styled com-
purgators,) and then a decision, sometimes by the or-
deal — sometimes by "lawmen" or judges, or "king's
thanes" — sometimes by the whole assembly before which
the cause was heard ; but in no case by any select body
resembling the modem jury.

It is evident, however, that the laws that have been
preserved to us shew us rather what society was in-
tended to be, than what* it was in certain cases. Thus
the earliest "dooms" speak of the money compensation
for homicide as an established rule, but it appears to
have been long before it became the ordinary practice.
The relatives of the slayer seem rather to have pro-
tected him, and they thus put themselves at feud with
the family of the slain, and "open morth," as it was
termed, went on, as is still the case in certain parts
both of Europe' and Asia; but when Anglo-Saxon

4 Athelstan says, " Let an equal number of men of either side, stand on
both sides of the ordeal alone the church, and let them all be fasting, ....
and let the mass-priest sprii^e hol>r water over them all, and let each of
them taste of the holy water, and give them all the book and the ima^e
of Christ's rood to kiss .... and let there be no other speaking within,
except that they earnestly pray to Almighty God that He make manifest
what is soothest"

' In Corsica and Sardinia, for instance, at the present day, the next of
kin of a murdered man is in dangtr of his life fix>m his own relatives if he

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT. 147

society had attained to something resembling modern
civilization, such a state of things could no longer be
tolerated; and we find Edmund the Elder (circa 940)
charging the witan with the duty of appeasing feuds,
and procuring the payment of the were, if possible, and
declaring that the kindred of the slayer shall be " unfoe"
towards the kindred of the slain ; but if they har-
bour the murderer, they are to forfeit all they own to
the king.

The laws against thieves are numerous, and their enact-
ments often appear contradictory, perhaps in consequence
of the perpetrators of offences of very various degrees
of enormity being confounded under one common term.
In one place Ina says, "If a thief be seized let him
perish by death, or let his life be redeemed according
to his were ;*' in another he fixes a wite of 60 shillings
for the offence, or slavery ; and although the citizens of
London (in the time of Athelstan) claimed the right to
slay all thieves and their abettors, and to take all they
had, which they appear to have carried into effect as
far as they were able, even with children of 12 years,
it is manifest from the same document that the thieves
and their kin often stood on their own defence, and set
the law at defiance. We find other laws speaking of
"notorious thieves," of thieves who are outlawed, of
those who have been "oftfen condemned for theft;"
of the king's reeves who assist thieves, and of the duty
of the king to ride after thieves, "with the aid of as
many men as may seem adequate to so great a suit.**
The laws of Athelstan denounce a variety of capital
punishments against thieves of every rank, both slave
and free, but he himself says that his peace was wprse
kept than was pleasing to him, and the latest Saxon

does not at least attempt to exact bloody for blood with his^ own hands—
preferably from the murderer, but if he is not to be met with, an]r of his
kin ; which of course is retaliated.

148 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT.

code shews that the evil was not abated by the severity
of the law.

It has been said that both sacred and secular ordi-
nances were often enacted at the same witenagemot^ but
several purely ecclesiastical documents have been pre-
served, of which the Penitential of Theodore of Canter-
bury, that of Egbert of York, the Canons enacted under
Edgar, and those of Elfric, may be named. We see in
them a regularly organized hierarchy •, laying down laws
for the regulation of almost every transaction ; and,
from the freedom with which ecclesiastical censures and
penalties are denounced against all classes in the state,
apparently supreme, but in fact far otherwise. The
numerous denunciations against those who break the
Church's peace, or seize its possessions, or injure or
slay its ministers, shew that these were by no means
exempt from the insecurity of the times.

Edgar's canons direct the assembly of a yearly synod,
to which every priest shall repair, attended by his clerk,
and an orderly man for servant, adding, "if any man
have highly injured him (any priest), let them all take
it up as if it had been done to all, and so aid that bote
(amends) be made as the bishop shall direct '.'' Differ-
ences between priests were not to be referred to the.
adjustment of secular men, but settled among them-
selves, or by the bishop ; and Canute gave force to this
by ordaining, that any priest who defiled himself with

* At the time of the Norman invasion there existed the two arch>
bishoprics, Canterbury and York, and twelve bbhops' sees, viz. Dorchester
Oaxxw Lincohi), Durham, Elmham (now Norwich), £xeter, Hereford, Lid^-
field. London, Rochester, Selsey (now Chichester), Sherborne (now Salis-
Iniry), Wells (now Bath and WellsX. Winchester, and Worcester.^ The
Wewi sees and that of Man also existed, but tneir connexion with the
An^Io-Saxon Church seems to have been uncertain, and dependent on
poUtical circumstances.

* This bote, it appears from another document, was to be sevenfold :
because "sevenfold are the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and seven are the
d^prees of ecclesiastical states and holy orders, and seven times should
God's servants praise God daily in church, and for all Christian people
earacgtiy intercede."

ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVBRNMBNT. I49

a crime worthy of death, should be held to the bishop's
doom, or judgment.

Fasting and penance are the ordinary modes of cor-
rection for offences, and these are often extended to
very lengthened periods ; so long, indeed, as to be im-
practicable ; therefore means are devised by which they
may be lightened. A sick man may redeem a day's
fast with a penny, or with the repetition of 220 psalms ;
a twelve-months' fast may be redeemed by 30 masses ;
and a seven years' fast may be atoned for in twelve
months, "if he every day sing the psalter of psalms,
and a second at night, and a fifty at even ;" but in all
cases the value of the food that should have been eaten
was to be given to God's poor ; otherwise it was de*
clared to be no fast.

Penance was too much redeemed by alms ; and in the
case of the " powerful man and rich in friends," a seven
years' infliction is atoned for in three days thus ; " Let
him [after confession of his sins] lay aside his weapons
and his vain ornaments, and take a staff in his hand,
and go barefoot zealously, and put on his body woollen
or hair-cloth, and not come unto a bed, but lie on a
pallet : — ^let him take to him 12 men, and let them fast
3 days on bread, and on green herbs, and on water;
and get, in addition thereto, in whatsoever manner he
can, seven times 120 men, who shall also fast for him
3 days ; then will be fasted as many fasts as there are
days in 7 years." ..." He who has the ability, let hini
raise a church to the glory of God ; and he who has
less means, let him do diligently, according to his con-
dition, that which he can do *."

The following passage from Edgar's canons, however,
demands quotation to shew what penance uncompounded

" Among the good deeds to which penitents are incited^ beside the more
ordinary requirements ^f Christian charity, are the furnishing of bridges
and roads, redeeming of slaves, help to foreigners and "poor plundered
men/' and burying the dead for the love of God.

I50 ANGLO-SAXON LAWS AND GOVERNMENT^

—

for really was ; and we know that to this, in all its
humiliating details, some at least of the highest and
mightiest of the earth * have submitted " for their soul's
health."

^' It is a deep penitence that a layman lay aside his
weapons and travel far barefoot, and nowhere pass a
second night, and fast and watch much, and pray fer-
vently, and voluntarily suffer fatigue, and be so squalid,
that iron come not on hair nor on nail. Nor that he
come into a warm bath, nor into a soft bed, nor taste
flesh, nor anything from which drunkenness may come,
nor that he come within a church ; but yet diligently
seek holy places, and declare his sins, and implore in-
tercession, and kiss no one, but be ever fervently re-
penting his sins. Roughly he fares who thus constantly
criminates himself, and yet is he happy if he never relax
till he make full ' bote ;' because no man in the world
is so very criminal that he may not make atonement to
God, let him undertake it fervently.'*

A.D.

Events in General History.

Attila the Hun is defeated at Chalons

Odoacer becomes King of Italy

Justinian proclaimed Emperor

The Turks b^n their conquests in Asia .

Alboin founds the Lombard kingdom in Italy .

Flight of Mohammed from Mecca, which gives rise

era of the Hejira

The Saracens commence their career of conquest
Foundation of the republic of Venice
The Saracens establish themselves in Spain
Charles Martel defeats the Saracens at Tours .
Charlemagne crowned as Emperor of the West

* Sweyn, the brother of Harold, died on his return from a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem made in this manner in expiation of the fburder of his kinsman,
Beoni. See a.d. Z049.

EVENTS IN GENERAL HISTORY.

151

A.D.

Ruric founds the empire of Russia 862

The Northmen settle in Neustria, which is henceforth

called Normandy 912

. 962

. 987

. 1025

. 1029

Otho the Great crowned as Emperor of the West
The Capetian race become Kings of France
Boleslas founds the kingdom of Poland .
The Normans establish themselves in Italy

THE NORMAN ERA.

We have seen from the Saxon Chronicle that the
Northmen frequently extended their destructive inroads
to France, and they appear to have had several per-
manent settlements in that country at least as early as
the year 850 ; but it was not until they were headed by
Rolf the Ganger', that they obtained possession of the
district around the mouth of the Seine, since called, from
them, Normandy. Rolf, who had been banished from
Norway about 875, for defiance of the orders of Harold
Harfagar, having embraced Christianity, and married
Gisele, daughter of Charles the Simple, governed his pro-
vince with vigour and wisdom, and formed it into a bar-
rier for the rest of France against the incursions of his
former associates. He died in 920, and left his state to
his son William, the fourth in descent from whom was
William the Bastard ^, — whose victory at Hastings com-
menced the last great change from abroad to which our

* Also called Rollo. He is said to have been too tall and too heavy for any
horse to carry, and so was obliged to journey on foot ; whence his name,
Rolf the Walker.

^ From thb term occurring in some of William's charters, it has been as-
serted that it conveyed no reproach; but the following anecdote, while it
exhibits the brutality of the man, shews that ht regarded it, on one occa-
sion at least, in a different light •: —

" William sent to Count Baldwin of Flanders, and requested his daughter
in marriage. The matter pleased the coimt, and he spoke of it to his daughter,
but she answered that sne would never have a bastard for her husband.
Then the count sent to the duke, and declined the marrisu^e as courteously
as he could. Shortly after, Uie duke learnt how the lady had answered, at
which he was very angry. Takine some of his friends with him, he went to
Lille, and entering the count's hul, passed through to the chamber of the
countess. He found hf r with her father, when he seized her by her hair,
dragged her about the chamber, and 'defiled her with his feet. Then he
went out, mounted his palfry, and returned to his own country. At this
thing the count Baldwin was greatly enraged, but by the advice of his coun-
cillors he accorded his wish to the auke, and they were good friends."

THE NORMAN ERA. 1 53

island has been subjected. Its effects, however, have
been greatly overrated in many social and constitutional
points. There can be no doubt that Norman influence,
although based on conquest and working ruthlessly at
first, produced on the English nation, with which in
a very few generations the Normans had amalgamated,
effects which no other discipline could have ensured ; it
consolidated the people under a strong government and
fitted them for organization and defence.

Iron rule and merciless confiscation were the great
features of William's policy. The private possessions of
Harold and his kindred, and of most of those who had
fought at Hastings, were seized, at the very beginning
of the new king's reign, and the rest of the people
" bought their land" at a heavy price. Unsuccessful at-
tempts to shake off the yoke gave occasion for fresh
seizures, and when the Domesday Survey was made, the
whole landed property of the country (exclusive of that
of the Church) appeared vested in the Conqueror, and
about 600 tenants in chief, among whom a name shewing
a Saxon or Danish origin is but rarely to be met with.
The churches generally had retained their property, and
some had even received additions, while with the spoil
some were founded*. Many foreign religious houses
were also established or augmented from the same source,
and, under the name of alien priories, their rights and
duties formed frequent subjects of dispute in subsequent
times •*.

To the confiscations and ravages, which Norman
writers do not deny, and which the Domesday Book

« The abbey of Battle, which William founded to commemorate his vic-
tory, was endowed with possessions in Essex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Berks,
Oxford, and Devon. Many important privileges were granted to it, and the
duty was imposed of preserving a list of the leaders on the Norman side at
the battle of Hastings. Sever^ copies of this list, called the Battle Abbey
Roll, exist ; but they vary so much, and bear such evident marks of inter-
polation, that they have little historical value.

^ Most of these foundations were of the Cistercian order, which was
a branch of the Benedictines, and had been devised not long before.

154 INTRODUCTION

indisputably establishes, were added many other griev-
ances, well fitted to " make oppression bitter." " The
king and the head men," says the Saxon Chronicler,
" loved much, and overmuch, gold and silver, and recked
not how sinfully it was got, provided it came to them.
The king let his land at as high a rate as he possibly
could ; then came some other person and bade more
than the former one gave, and the king let it to the
man that bade him more. Then came the third and
bade yet more, and the king let it to hand to the man
who bade him most of all ; and he recked not how very
sinfully the stewards got it of wretched men, nor how
many unlawful deeds they did. They erected unjust
tolls, and many other unjust things they did, that are
hard to reckon."

Though the Normans founded or endowed monas-
teries (chiefly, however, abroad), they, perhaps for stra-
tegic purposes, destroyed the minster at York, and many
other churches, and more than one Saxon bishop died
in prison, whilst others were driven from their sees, for
attempting to shield their people from the exactions and
encroachments of the " mixed multitude " of soldiers of
fortune, who, having conquered at Hastings, were pre-
vented neither by mercy nor discretion from pushing
their triiunph to the uttermost.

It is said that William, in the fourth year of his
^^^&^9 granted certain laws and customs to the people
of England, being, he says, the same as his cousin King
Edward held before him% "but the more men spake
about right law, the more unlawfully they acted," and
soon, as far as the Saxons at least were concerned, the
open and avowed law was the king's pleasure, and the
sword the only instrument of government.

The germ of the feudal system is probably almost

* These laws embody the main features of Anglo-Saxon legislation,
already described (pp. 134—150)1

TO THE NORMAN ERA. 1 55

coeval with government itself^ and it had unquestion*
ably been acted on, not only in the arrangements made
in the latter days of the Roman empire for the protec-
tion of its . frontiers by military colonies, but also by
the Anglo-Saxon kings, but it was not until the time of
William that it received its full development in Eng-
land, and was applied to the whole property of the
country. The division of land now generally recognised
was into knights' fees, varying from about 600 to 800
acres, which were obliged to furnish 40 days' service
of a fully equipped horseman each year ; these fees
were popularly regarded as more than 60,000, but there
is very great difficulty in ascertaining the exact number.
The land was first granted in large districts to the
tenants in chief, and by them subdivided ; homage,
service, and various money payments were the con-
siderations due for each grant, and were as fully owing
from the under to the chief tenants, as from the latter
to the king. No land could be alienated without a
fines SLnd on the death of a tenant, the successor paid
a sum to be put in possession, called a relief. If the
heir was under age, the profits of the estates belonged
to the lord, as also did the control of the marriage of
the ward. Under the name of aids^ the lord claimed
stipulated sums from his tenants on the occasion of
the knighting of his eldest son, the marriage of his
eldest daughter, or his own capture in war. These
were all legal and established burdens, and perhaps
did not amount to more than the rent of land and the
ordinary taxation of modem times : but the superiors
did not confine themselves to them : on the contrary,
new exactions were perpetually attempted, and the rev-
enues of both lords and kings were increased by the
most various and often discreditable means.

The forests had been in the hands of the kings in
Anglo-Saxon times, and the laws of Canute shevr tla^^

156 INTRODUCTION

the game was "preserved** in his day, though the pan-
nage, or feeding for swine, was liberally granted to in*
dividuals ; but the Norman kings carried their passion
for the chase to a pitch which perhaps no other monarchs
have equalled, and guarded their wild beasts by de*
nouncing death against those who interfered with them.
On some occasions, when the turbulence of their barons
compelled them to attempt to conciliate their English
subjects, they promised an amelioration of their forest
code, but uniformly retracted their concessions when
the danger was over '.

Between people thus treated, and their rulers, no
cordiality could exist, and it appeared necessary to the
safety of the latter that no Englishman should hold any
place of importance. The powers of government were
entrusted to such rapacious adventurers as Ralph Flam*
bard* and William of Ypres, Saxon bishops were re-
placed by Norman ones ^ ; but although .the colloquial
use of the Norman-French language^ was a necessary
innovation at first, the change ran in the contrary direc-
tion, and the second or third generation of the victors
at Hastings spoke in common life a language which

' William I. usually bears the whole odium of the afforestation which
proved so grievous to the English people ; but it appears from the charter
of Stephen, that William II. and Henry I. had also added to the royal
forests : these latter additions Stephen promises to restore to Uie owners,
in terms which seem to imp^ that they had been forcibly seized.

' Ralph, a Norman chaplain of vile character, was by William Rufus made
1)ishop of Durham, but by Henry I. was deprived of his see, and imprisoned.
He escaped, and went into exile, but having made his peace by betrayinjg;
a city entrusted to him (Lisieux), he returned some years after, and held his
bishopric till his death. William of Ypres, a Fleming, was Stephen's gene-
ral, and received from him the earldom of Kent. His ravages made hun so
unpopular, that on the king's death he fled from England, and entered a mo-
nastery, where he died in xx6a.

** One Norman monk, however, Guitmond, had the virtue to refuse such
preferment, and the courage to reproach the spoilers with their barbarous
usa^e of the vanquished. His strictures gave such great offence that he was
obliged to withdraw firom Normandy, out he was afterwards, by Pope
Urton II., made bishop of Aversa. His eloquent letter to William bias been
preserved by Orderic.

' The first Norman-Frendi document is of the rdgn of John, and the use
of the language in the law courts belongs to the reign of Edward I. Of
colKNiuially the Normans used French.

TO THE NORMAN ERA. ' 1 57

was much more intelligible to their Saxon countrymen
than to their Norman kindred.

In fact, the Saxon and Danish races, though borne
down for a while, were not crushed; and when the
death of the last of the Norman kings left the throne
vacant, the young Henry of Anjou was received by the
main body of the people, not as the heir of the Con-
queror, but as the lineal representative of **the right
royal race," the descendants of Cerdic.

WUliam I. from his GFreftt Seal.

Arms ascribed to William I.

WILLIAM I.

William, the illegitimate son of Robert, sixth duke
of Normandy, was bom at Falaise about the end of
the year 1027. In 1035 his father died, but William
only obtained full possession of the duchy, after several
contests with his neighbours and the king 'of France,
in 1056. His father's sister, Emma, being mother to
Edward the Confessor, William alleged that that prince
had named him heir to the crown of England, and he
successfully asserted his claim at the battle of Hastings,
after gaining which, on the 14th October, 1066, he ad-
vanced on London and was crowned king at West-
minster on the following Christiiias-day ; the troubled
character of his reign being aptly foreshadowed by a
tumult on the occasion, in which some houses were
burnt, and many people slain.

William's reign was passed, after a brief attempt at
conciliation'' at his first coming, in a systematic en-
deavour to crush his new subjects. Churches and towns
were destroyed, and whole districts laid waste, some-
times to punish unsuccessful revolt, sometimes to pro-

^ He granted charters to several towns, among them to London, in which
he promised that each man should be ** law-worthy " as in King Edward's
(days, and that no one should do them wrong, but he forcibly resumed most
of them a few years after. See a.d. zoyz. The London charter, however,
StitiU in the possession of the citizens.

WILLIAM I. 159

vide against hostile invasion, and sometimes to furnish
scope for the chase, though it appears from Domesday
Book that this latter matter has been exaggerated ^
His wars with France were not altogether successful,
and his latter years were embittered by the rebellions
of his sons. He died Sept. 9, 1087, at Rouen, from
an accidental injury, and was buried at Caen. The
splendid monument raised to his memory by his son
William was destroyed in the religious wars in France
in the i6th century"*.

In 1053 William married Matilda, daughter of Bald-
win v., count of Flanders, by whom he had a family of
four sons and five (perhaps six) daughters. Matilda
died Nov. 2, 1083, and was buried at Caen. Their
children were : —

1. Robert, known as Courthose, bom probably about
1056, who became duke of Normandy, went to the
Crusade, was twice defeated in his claim on the crown
of England, and at length, being made prisoner by
his brother Henry, died at Cardiff Castle, Feb. 10,
II 35, after a captivity of 28 years. The tale of his
having been blinded by his brother Henry's order, does
not rest on satisfactory authority. He outlived his two
sons, who both met violent deaths ; William, count of
Flanders, being killed at Alost in 11 28, and Henry,
an illegitimate son, in May, i icx>, whilst hunting in the
New Forest.

2. Richard, bom in 1058, and known as Richard of
Bemay", was killed by a stag in the New Forest, or
perhaps died from a fever contracted there, before the
death of his father.

3. William, and 4, Henry, became kings of England.
5. Cecilia became a nun at Fecamp, at Easter, 1075^

' Sec A.D. 1079.

^ The spot is now marked by a grey marble slab in the pavement before
the high altar.
" A place in the bailliage of Alengon, in Normandy.

l6o THE. NORMAN ERA.

and afterwards abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen, where
she died, July 30, 1126.

6. Adeliza died young.

7. Matilda, betrotfied to Alpfaonso of Castile, died on
her journey to Spain, about 1079.

8. Constance, married to Alan, duke of Bretagne,
died Aug. 13, 109a

9. Adela, married to Stephen of Blois. She governed
his dominions during his absence on the Crusade, and,
at length taking the veil, died in 1137.

Gundred, who became the wife of William Warrenne,
and died in 1085, is ofien stated to have been a daughter
of William I:, but this is probably a mistake*.

William Peverel, an apocryphal natural son of the
king, received large estates in Derbyshire and else-
where, but there is no evidence of the relationship.

The arms ascribed to William I. are those of his
duchy of Nonuandy : " Gules, two lions passant gardant

The Norman writers praise William as a wise and
pious king, but the Saxon Chronicler, who, as he him-
self declares, "had often looked upon him, and Uved
some time in his court," has drawn a character far
less favourable >. William, he says, was wise and rich,
mild to good men, but beyond all measure severe to
those who withstood his will. He affected great state
and dignity, and held a splendid court thrice a-year, in
Westminster, Winchester and Gloucester, to which all
the nobles were obliged to repair. He also made "good
peace," so that no man durst slay or rob another ' j yet

* She u nppoHd to hwre been faia atep-dmighler, the time of MAtildi by

the nuin feaiurci aC tUi mn«i Ibe duracter pita in the Keims-
)t ChiDnide of the Sei-kingi of Sonny: '^Earl WilKun wu

iget Ihin other mai. ■ Ereal hor

fnnn big people.

A.D. 1067.] WILLIAM I. 'l5l

in his time men had many sorrows. He ruled so ab-
solutely, that he cast down earls and bishops, and
abbots and thanes. His rich men moaned, and poor
men trembled ; but he was so stem, he recked not
the hatred of them all, for they must follow his will,
if they would have his peace, or lands or possessions,
or even life. "Alas!" he concludes, "that any man
should thus exalt himself, and boast over all others !
May the almighty God shew mercy to his soul, and
grant him forgiveness of his sins."

A.D.1066. William is crowned at Westminster, De-
cember 25', by Aldred, archbishop of York*; "and
he gave him a pledge upon Christ's Book, and also
swore, before he would set the crown upon his head,
that he would govern this nation as well as any king
before him had at the best done, if they would be
faithful to him. Nevertheless, he laid a tribute on
the people very heavy ' . . . . and nien delivered him
hostages, and afterwards bought their land."

A.D. 1067. GODRED Cronan, a descendant of Sihtric of
Northumberland", who had escaped from the battle of
Stamford-bridge, becomes king of the Isle of Man.

William goes to Normandy during Lent, taking with
him " in honourable attendance,^ says Orderic, but really
as hostages, Edgar Atheling, Stigand the archbishop,
the earls Edwin, Morcar, and Waltheof, "and many
other good men of England."

' The years of his reign are reckoned from this day.

■ Stigand had been suspended from his office, the Normans considering
him as the usurper of the see of Robert of Jumi^ges. See a.d. 1052.

*- This was probably the Danegeld, the collection of which had been
suspended by Edward the Confessor. It continued to be levied until
the reign of Henry II., and varied with the exigencies of the state from
two to six shillings annually on each hide of land.

" See A.D. 925.

l62 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. I067 —

"And BISHOP Odo and William the earl* re-
mained here behind, and they built castles wide through
the land, and poor people oppressed; and ever after
it greatly grew in evil."

Eustace of Boulogne y, invited by the Kentish men,
attacks Dover, but without success.

Edric the Forester* makes a league with the
Welsh, with whom he attacks Hereford, "where he did
the castlemen [the Norman garrison] much evil.'*

Edgar Atheling, in the summer, flees to Scotland
with his mother and sisters, accompanied by Merlesuain •
•* and many good men."

William returns to England. He seizes the lands
of many of the English nobles, divides them among
his followers, and lays heavy taxes on the people.

William fpunds an abbey, on the field of Hastings,
dedicated to St. Martin, " in order that glory and praise
might be offered up there to God for his victory, and
that offices for the souls of the dead might there be
perpetually performed." It is known in history as Battle
Abbey ^

Baldwin, a Norman, advances into Powys, and builds
a castle where now stands Montgomery.

A.D.1068. The people of Exeter cut off a party of
Norman sailors.

William marches against them, and ''through the

* Odo of Bayeux» William's half-brother, and William Fitz-Osbera, earl
of Hereford.

7 See A.D. 1051. He had served at the battle of Hastings as a mercenary,
and he was dissatisfied with the reward that he received. On the failure of
his attempt, he effected a reconciliation with William.

* He was the nephew of Edric Streona, and, as appears from the Domes-
day Book, had large possessions in Hereford and Salop, of which it was at*
tempted to deprive him.

* It appears frcMn the Domesday Book that Merlesuain had gnat estates
in Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, as well as in York and Lincoln. He
seems to have been sheriff of one of these latter counties, and he had been
very active in raising forces to strengthen Harold's army when it marched
Ibrllastings.

^ It was not formally consecrated until Feb. xz, ZO04, seven years after
«tedMth of William.

A.D. 1069.] WILLIAM I. 163

treachery of the thanes," reduces the city after a siege
of 18 days*=. Githa, Harold's mother, who had taken
refuge there, flees to Steepholm, "and the wives of
many good men with her," and thence retires to Flanders.

Copsi^, a Saxon who had taken office in North-
umberland, is killed by the people five weeks after,
March 12.

Cospatric *, earl of Northumberland, and the people
of the north take anus. Edgar Atheling comes to them
from Scotland, and is received by them at York.

William's queen arrives in England ; she is crowned
by Archbishop Aldred on Whit-Sunday, May 11.

William advances to the north, builds forts at
Nottingham and Lincoln, and bestows the earldom of
Northumberland on Robert Comin, a Norman.

Harold's sons land in Somersetshire, plunder Bristol,
and kill Ednoth, the stallere'. They then ravage Wales,
about Midsummer, but are defeated, and obliged to retire
to Ireland.

On William's approach, Edgar Atheling again retires
to Scotland.

William builds two castles at York; "but St. Peter's
minster he made a profanation, and all other places also
he despoiled and trampled on."

Malcolm of Scotland makes peace with William,
and does homage to him for Cumberland.

Godred Cronan establishes himself in Ireland.
A.D. 1069. Comin is massacred at Durham, " and 900
Frenchmen with him," January 29.

* The effects of this siege are probably to be traced in the mention in the
Domesday Book, that the city then contained but 4x1 houses, while it had
46? in the time of King Edward.

^ He had been vicegerent to Tostig, and had remained faithful to the
Normans.

• Cospatric was of the royal race, being grandson of Uhtred and Elgiva,
daughter of Ethelred II.

' Ednoth had held this post under Harold, but had taken service Math
William. The Normans appear to have divided the office into two, calling
the steward the Dispensator (whence the family name Despenser), and the
military man the Constable or Master of the Horse.

l64 THE NOHMAN ERA. [A.D. I069 —

Edgar Atheling prepares for another attempt on the
north.

Aldred, archbishop of York, dies, Sept. 11.

The sons of Sweyn, king of Denmark, arrive in the
Humber, early in September, with 240 ships ; they are
joined by Edgar Atheling, Merlesuain, Cospatric, and
others, when they take York, put the garrison of 3,000
men to the sword', and demolish the castles. "But
ere the shipmen arrived the Frenchmen had burnt the
city, and also the holy minster of St. Peter had they
plundered, and entirely destroyed with fire."

William arrives, when the allies retire to their ships,
which remain in the Humber the whole winter.

William passes the winter in the north. **He
ordered the towns and fields of the whole district to
be laid waste ; the fruits and grain to be destroyed
by fire or by water .... thus the resources of a once
flourishing province were cut off, by fire, slaughter, and
devastation ; the ground for more than sixty miles,
totally uncultivated and unproductive, remains bare to
the present day ^."

Aegelric, the former bishop of Durham *, is betrayed
into William's hands, and confined at Westminster.

WALES.

A.D.1070. RywaLLON, one of the princes of North
Wales *', is killed.

t One of the few who escaped was Gilbert of Gand ; he was the refounder
' of Bardney Abbey, in Lincokishire,* and possessed numors in that and in
thirteen other counties.

^ Such is the substance of the account of William of Malmesbury, in his
"History of the Kings," which is usually considered to have been written
about ZZ35, or nearly 60 years after the event, and it is fully borne out by
numerous entries in the Domesday Book. The lands of the Saxon leaders
appear to have been rendered so desolate, that on zz manors described, only
eight cottagers and 354 villeins are entered.

t He had been abbot of Peterborough, but after holding the see of
Durham 15 years he returned to his monasteiy ; he again Teh it to join
"^ people against the Normans. He died m prison, at Westminster,
i5> X072. ^ Sec A.D. X063.

A.D. I070.] WALES. 165

Wales was nominally subject to the English crown
at the time of the arrival of the Normans, and although
William was too much occupied in other parts to enforce,
except on one occasion, the claim of feudal superiority \
it was only reserved for a more fitting season. As early
indeed as 1067, one Baldwin built a castle, where now
stands Montgomery, within the acknowledged border of
Powys, and in 1069 and 1070 other adventurers seized
on, and fortified, posts on the coast of Dyved, or Pem-
broke. In this latter year, civil dissension opened the
road to other parts of the country ; the purchased aid
of a few Norman horsemen enabled Caradoc, lord of
Morganwg (Glamorgan), to seize the principality of South
Wales ; but his treacherous allies soon returned as plun-
derers, and next as conquerors and permanent settlers.
Early in the reign of William II. they joined another
rebellious lord of Glamorgan, killed Rhys ap Tudor,
the lineal descendant of Howel Dda, and partitioned
his territories °*.

This success was followed by William's assertion
of his feudal superiority, and his grant of other parts
of Wales to certain of his favourites. In consequence,
a crowd of desperate adventurers poured into the country,
extending to it all the miseries that England then suf-
fered. The Welsh strove fiercely against them, and, ac-
cording to their own annalists, more than once cleared
the land ; " but the spoilers had tasted of the sweetness
of Wales," they returned to the charge, found allies
among the numerous aspirants to sovereignty after the
death of Rhys ap Tudor and the exile of his family,

• See A.D. 1081.

"> The leader of this band was Robert Fitzhamon. The names of his
twelve principal companions have been preserved, and to them is ascribed
the foundation of the numerous castles still found in Glamorganshire and
its immediate neighbourhood. They were Gilbert Humfreville, Oliver St.
John, Payen de Turberville, Peter le Soore, Reginald de Sulby, Richard
Greenfield, Richard de Siward, Robert St. Ouintin, Roger Berknolles, John
the Fleming, William the Easterling, and William of London.

l66 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. I070,

and in the course of the two following reigns, though
almost constantly in a state of siege, and often in ex-
treme jeopardy, Norman and Flemish ■ castles and co-
lonies spread along the coasts of South and West Wales ;
Powys was more completely occupied ; and Gwynneth
alone, favoured by the nature of the country, was able
to maintain a semblance of independence.

It was indeed little more than a semblance, although
the brave and often successful efforts of Owen Gwynneth,
the descendant of Howel Dda, the '*Owen brave and
Owen strong'' of the bards, and the internal troubles
of England, long delayed the complete subjugation of
the land. Their contact with the Normans, however,
soon produced many important changes, to the dis-
advantage of the Welsh. The feudal institution was
received among them, and numerous intermarriages, and
consequent exchanges of property, took place ; the au-
thority of the archbishop of Canterbury as metropolitan
was admitted, and some of their chiefs accepted the
office of justiciary from the English kings. Such great
alterations were in consequence made in the institutes
of Howel Dda, that as early as 1080 the prince of North
Wales gave the parties to any suit the choice of being
judged by the old or the new law.

A.D. 1070. The laws called those of Edward the Con-
fessor are promulgated in London, contrary to the wish
of the people of the east and north, who desire the
Danish law.

A council holden at Winchester, about Easter, in

• Both were detested for their cruelty, but, according to Caradoc of

icarvan, the Flemings had little of the courage of the Normans. On

occasion Griffin ap Tudor (see a.d. zzzz) encouraged his men to attack

with the remark, that, though twenty times more numerous, they

t only Flemings ; " his followers justified his confidence by routing

opponents.

A.D. I070.] WILLIAM I. 16/

which Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury, is deposed,
and sentenced to imprisonment *.

LAN FRANC, abbot of Caen', is appointed archbishop
of Canterbury % August 1 5, and consecrated August 29,
Thomas, a canon of Bayeux, appointed archbishop of
York, declines to take the oath of canonical obedience
to him, which commences the contest for the prijnacy
between the two sees ',

Waltheof, the son of Siward, who had held York
against the Normans, is taken into favour, and marries
Judith, William's niece.

Harold and Canute, the sons of Sweyn of Denmark,
arrive in the Humber, with many bishops ■ and earls ;
"the English people from all the fen lands came to
them, conceiving that they would win all the land."

Hereward heads a band, which plunders and burns
the abbey of Peterborough, it having been bestowed by
William on Thorold, "a stem man," and one of his
partisans, June 2. They deposit their plunder at Ely,
but it is afterwards lost at sea, '

The Danish fleet comes into the Thames, when
William makes a treaty with Sweyn, and it withdraws.

Malcolm of Scotland marries Margaret, the sister
of Edgar Atheling,

« He escaped to Scotland, and is believed to have died there.

p He was a native of Pa via, and had attained eminence as a lawyer before
he became a monk. He entered the abbey of Bee, in Normandy, and from
him, says Orderic, the Normans received^ the first rudiments of literature,
whilst Bee became a school of both divine and secular leamine. When
William founded the abbey of Caen, he placed Lanfranc at its head.

4 Some Normans of bad character were made bishops ; but Lanfranci
and his successor Anselm, were truly wise and good men, and the Saxons
were indebted to them for all the alleviation of their condition that it was
in their power to afford. Lanfranc held the see from Z070 to Z089, and
Anselm from 1093 to 1x09.

' Wilfrid, in the seventh century, had refused to be consecrated by the
archbishoi> of Canterbury, but probably as much from dislike of his com-
munion with Aidan and others of the British church as from any claim^ to
the primacy. The dispute, which in its course led to many indecent broils.

even

at a comp;
rb

in the presence of royalty (see a.d. 1x75), was, after a vain attempt
:ompromise in X3X4, decided in 1354 by Pope Innocent VL in favour

of Canterbury.
■ Christiem, bishop of Aarhuus, was established by them at Ely.

l68 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. IO70—

Caradoc, son of Griffin ap Rytherch, lord of Gla-
morgan, obtains the sovereignty of South Wales by the
help of the Normans. He is shortly succeeded by his
son Rytherch.

A.D.1071. "All the monasteries are ordered to be
plundered," says the Saxon Chronicler '.

The earls Edwin and Morcar become outlaws ;
"they fled out and roamed at random in woods and
fields.''

Edwin is treacherously killed, but Morcar takes ship
and joins Hereward in the Isle of Ely. Hereward is
also joined by Aegelwine, the expelled bishop of Dur-
ham (brother of Aegelric)", Siward Barn*, and many
hundred men.

" Then William beset the land all about, and built
a bridge, and went in, and had ships at the same time
on the sea-side . . . the outlaws then surrendered, except
Hereward and those who would join him^ whom he led
out triumphantly y."

The lands of Edwin and Morcar, in Norfolk and
Lincoln, are divided " ; their Yorkshire lands had been
devastated.

*■ We learn from later writers that this plunder included not only the
valuables which the oppressed English had there deposited in a place of
fancied safety, but also most .of the charters which William himself had
granted.

« He was captured when the island surrendered, and died in prison at
Abingdon soon after. Of the other prisoners it is said, " the king disposed
of them as he thought proper ; " he, however, spared the lives of Morcar
and Siward Bam, and on his death-bed ordered them to be set at liberty.

* He is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having held, in the time
of Kin^ Edward, large possessions in Gloucester, NonoUc, Warwick, and
Yorkshure.

7 Hereward's fate is uncertsdn. The Saxon Chronicle mentions him no
more ; but the Chronicle of Gaimar says he led a wandering life for a time,
and then was stunprised and killed by a troop of Bretons in die pay of
William.

■ Lucy, their sister, was forcibly married to a Norman, Ivo dc Taillebois.
Many more of William's followers were thus provided with wives as well as
lands, which was perhaps intended to pave the way for a peaceable posses-
sion of the country by the next generation, though it may well be doubted
whether the ladies could regard themselves as more fortunate than their
despoiled or murdered relatives.

A.D. IO750 WILLIAM I. 169

Edric the Forester is captured by Ralph de Mor-
timer.

The Normans plunder Cardigan.
A.D. 1072. A council, called Concilium Anglicanum,
held from Easter to Pentecost, which affirms the primacy
of Canterbury.

William invades Scotland by sea and land, Edric
the Forester being with him; "but he found nothing
there of any value." He grants peace to Malcolm, " who
became his man \"

William, on his return, fortifies Carlisle and Durham ^.
A.D. 1073. William leads an army, principally of Eng-
lish, into Maine and subdues it '^.

Blethyn, prince of North Wales, is murdered.
Trahem succeeds.

Griffin ap Conan, an exiled descendant of Griffin ap
Llewelyn •*, arrives from Ireland and conquers Anglesey.
A.D. 1074. William goes to Normandy.

Edgar Atheling, who some time previously had gone
to Flanders, returns to Scotland, July 8. Being invited
to the court of France (the king was at war with William),
he sets sail, but is shipwrecked, when, by the advice of
Malcolm, he passes over to Normandy to William, "who
received him with much pomp ; enjoying such rights as
the king confirmed to him by law."

Rytherch of South Wales killed. Rhys ap Owen
succeeds.
A.D.1075. Ralph de Guader* and several Normans

* Or vassal; not for Scotland, probably, but for Cumberland. (See
A.D. 945, looa) The same remark applies to similar acknowledgments of
a later date.

>> The number of castles built by William and his barons appears to have
been forty-eight. Their existing remains shew their strength, and of their
size we may judge from an entry in the Domesday Book, which states
that 166 houses were destroyed to make room for the castle at Lincoln.

^ Maine regained its independence on the death of William, but was
again subdued by William II.

•* See A.D. 1063.

* Guader was of Norman or Breton parentage, but bom in England. He
made his escape, went with the first Crusaders to Palestine, and died there.

I70 THE KORMAN ERA. [A.D. IO75 —

conspire against William, on occasion of Ralph's mar-
riage, at Norwich, and ask aid from Sweyn of Denmark ;
Waltheof appears to have been involved in the secret
of the plot, and to have revealed it to Lanfranc.

Their plans frustrated by William's sudden return,

Waltheof flees over sea ; " but he asked forgiveness,
and proffered gifts of ransom. And the king spoke him
fairly till he came to England, when he had him seized.*'

A fleet of 200 ships, commanded by Canute, the son
of Sweyn of Denmark, and Haco the earl, arrive on
the east coast, but flnding the conspiracy crushed, they
plunder York Minster and retire.

William inflicts heavy punishment on the con-
spirators ; '^ some were blinded, some driven from the
land."

Edith, the widow of Edward the Confessor, dies
Dec. 18; she is buried with much pomp beside him at
Westminster.

A council holden at London, when it was determined
that several episcopal sees should be removed to more
important places ; in consequence, Bath, Chester, Chi-
chester, Lincoln, Salisbury, and Thetford, become bi-
shops' sees.
A.D. 1076. A great earthquake in England.

Waltheof (who had been betrayed into the hands
of his enemies by his wife) is beheaded at Winchester,
May 31 ; his body is, after a hasty burial on the spot,
removed to Croyland Abbey, and miracles are asserted
to be performed at his tomb.

William is foiled in an attack on Britanny.

Rhys ap Owen killed in war against North Wales.
He is succeeded by Rhys ap Tudor, descended from
Howel Dda.
A.D. 1077. London burnt, Aug. 14.

Archbishop Lanfranc greatly advances the cause of
3ie monks against the secular clergy.

A.D. 1079.] WILLIAM I. 171

The coasts of South Wales ravaged, and St. David's
plundered, by pirates, who also kill Abraham, the bishop.
A.D. 1078. The king's son ROBERT claims possession of
Normandy. Being refused, he rebels.

A.D. 1079. William besieges his son in Gerberoi, on
the border of Normandy, and is wounded by him in a
skirmish. Robert submits.

Malcolm of Scotland ravages Northumberland, in
the autumn. Robert, who had been pardoned, advances
against him, and builds a fort on the Tyne, where New-
castle now stands.

Trahern of North Wales killed. Griffin ap Conan
becomes prince of North Wales and Powys.

THE NEW FOREST.

A.D. 1079. The New Forest, in Hampshire, is formed.
The Saxon Chronicler, remarking on the barbarous
penalties of the Norman forest law', says that William
" loved the tall deer as if he was their father," and that
he and his great men made many deer-parks ; but he
does not state, as later writers have done, that well-
peopled districts were reduced to deserts by the opera-
tion. William of Malmesbury (the next nearest au-
thority in point of time) says that William, in forming
the New Forest, desolated the towns and destroyed
the churches for a space of more than 30 miles ; and
other authors affirm that as many as 52 churches were
levelled with the ground; but it is certain that this
is a great exaggeration. A forest, called Ytene, (pro-
bably a portion of the great Andred's wood of the early
Saxons,) already existed in the region between the rivers
Itchen and Avon, and to this the Domesday Book
shews that at least 17,000 acres had been added since

f ** He made many deer-parks ; and he established laws, so that whoso-
ever slew a hart, or a hind, or a boar, should be blinded."

172 THE NORMAN ERA. [a.D. 1079-^

the time of King Edward. Some open spots in this
district bear names indicative of former dwelling-places,
as Church -place, Church -moor, Castle -hill, &c. ; and
traces of former foundations are met with in various
places within the forest, but they are quite as probably
the remains of royal hunting-seats as of churches. The
fair conclusion seems to be, that, finding a rough and
thinly peopled tract in the neighbourhood of the old
royal seat of Winchester, one, too, whose poor soil pre-
vented its making any profitable return to the husband-
man, the new king enlarged its bounds «f, and if here
and there a few dwellings or a church opposed an
obstacle to the design, we may suppose they were at
once demolished ; whether any compensation was made,
it is of course impossible to tell ; but the general tenor
of the Norman rule would lead to the inference that it
was not, and there is evidence in the Chartulary of
Abingdon, that Windsor Forest was enlarged by William
at the expense of the abbey.

A.D. 1080. Walcher, the first Norman bishop of Dur-
ham, is slain, with all his attendants, by the people.
May 14.

Odo of Bayeux ravages the country in revenge.
A.D. 108L " This year the king led an army into Wales,
and freed many hundreds of men." Caradoc of Llan-
carvan says that he advanced "after the manner of
a pilgrim, as far as St. David's, where he offered his
devotion to that saint, and received the homage of the
kings and princes of the country,"

Certain laws modifying the laws of Edward the
Confessor said to be issued by William.

An earthquake does great damage in England.

t Several entries occur in the Domesday Book of the woods only of
[m manor having been taken to enkurge the king's forest.

A.D. 1085.] WILLIAM I. 173

-«M*-

A.D. 1082. Odo of Bayeux falls into disgrace ; his vast
possessions are seized by the king.

A.D. 1083. Thurstan, the abbot of Glastonbury, quarrels
with his monks, and brings armed men into the church,
who kill three and wound eighteen others around the
altar.

A heavy tax of 72 pence (or treble the former rate)
is laid on each hide of land \

Queen Matilda dies, Nov. 2 ; she is buried in the
nunnery of Holy Trinity, at Caen*.

A.D. 1085. Canute, king of Denmark, Olaf of Norway,
and Robert, count of Flanders, prepare a fleet for the
invasion of England.

William hires a large army in France and other
countries, brings them to England, where he quarters
them on the people, and lays waste the sea-coast.

A mutiny arises in the hostile fleet ; Canute is killed
in a church^ by his own men, during the winter, and
the enterprise is abandoned.

THE DOMESDAY BOOK.

A.D. 1085. A general survey and valuation of the land
is ordered by the king \ " So very narrowly indeed did
he commission them to trace it out, that there was not
one single hide nor a yard of land (quarter acre), nay,
moreover, (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it

^ The hide, lilce the carucate, vii^gate, and acre, seems to have varied in
its contents : some passages of the Domesday Book appear to make it
contain 120 acres, but others much less.

i Her monumental slab, with its inscription legible, is still preserved
there.

^ He was in consequence canonized, his feast-day being Jan. 19. ^

' Some historians say that it was begun in xo8o or Z083, but this is con-
tradicted by internal evidence furnished by allusions in the record to public
events of which the date is well known. The Saxon Chronicle says that
the survey was ordered by William at his court at Gloucester, held at
Christmas. Z085. But the Chronicler sometimes begins the year at Advent,
or at Chnstmas, and hence Christmas, 1084, may be meant, which gives
fifteen months instead of only three for the survey ; certainly not too long
for such a work. ■ -^

174 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. 1085.

no shame to do it,) not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a
swine, was there left that was not set down. And all
the recorded particulars were afterwards brought to
him ;" at Winchester, at the Easter of the year 1086.

These recorded particulars have come down to us
in the often-cited record termed the Domesday Book,
or the Book of Winchester. Persons called the king's
justiciaries were appointed, of whom the names of four
have been preserved, viz. Remigius bishop of Lincoln,
Walter Giflfard, Henry de Ferrers, and Adam, brother
of Eudo the royal steward, who either in person or by
deputy visited the greater part of the country", and
from the oaths of the sheriff, the lord of each manor,
the priest of each church, the reeve of each hundred,
and the bailiff and six villeins of each vill, obtained
the particulars of the name of the place, who held it
in the time of King Edward, who was the present
holder, its extent, the number of tenants of each class,
bond and free, the homages of each manor, the extent
of wood, meadow, and pasture, the mills and ponds,
the gross value in King Edward's time, and, which
gives a key to the whole, whether any advance could
be made in the value ; an expectation, however, doomed
to disappointment, as the great majority of places
are returned as of less value now than formerly, the
natural consequence of the mal-administration of the
conquerors •. These particulars, which are found in an
existing inquisition into property in Cambridgeshire and
Hertfordshire, do not bear out the complaint of the
Saxon Chronicle as to the cattle ; but it is probable
that the officials often exceeded their instructions, and

*° Neither Northumberland, nor Durham, and but a small part of Cum-
berland and Westmoreland, appear in the return, — ^for which various causes
have been assigned ; the most probable being that they were then in the
hands of the Scots.

" The lands in the king's hands ai% more highly rated than before, and
the rents exacted bjr him firom the towns are greatly increased, but the
estates in the possessioo of his subjects appear generally reduced in value*

A.D. 1085.] THte DOMESDAY BOOk. 175

inquired more minutely than they had been directed
to do. When completed, these inquisitions were sent
to Winchester, and being there digested, were entered
in the book now preserved in the Public Record Office,
but formerly carried about with the king and the great
seal, and termed indifferently the Book of Winchester,
from the place of its compilation, and Domesday Book,
either from a profane parallel instituted between its
decisions and those of the day of doom, or judgment,
or more probably from its being, while at Winchester,
deposited in a chapel or vault of the cathedral, called
Domus Dei.

This most remarkable document is written on vellum,
and forms two volumes of unequal size, — one being a folio
of 382 pages, in a small hand ; the other a quarto of 450
pages, in a larger one. The first volume commences
with an entry of all the above particulars as regards the
county of " Chenth," and the shires are arranged in series
running from east to west, and one from west to east,
though their limits do not always agree with the modem
divisions, and sometimes — for the sake, apparently, of
bringing all the property of some great landholder
together — a portion of one county is described in another.
Commencing with Kent, the survey proceeds along the
coast (but including Berkshire) to Cornwall j then, start-
ing from Middlesex, proceeds through Hertford, Bucks,
Oxford, Gloucester, and Worcester, to Hereford; the
third series begins with Cambridge, and embraces Hun-
tingdon, Bedford, Northampton, Leicester, Warwick,
Stafford, and Salop ; and the fourth, Chester, Derby,
part of Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Lincoln. The second
volume is occupied only with the three counties of Essex,
Suffolk and Norfolk ; and, beside the same matters as
in the first, has lists of " invasions," as they are termed,
or of lands possessed .without a title from the king.

The number of tenants in capite entered in the first

176 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. 1085.

volume is 510, in the secondj 162° ; but several of these
are the same persons. The number of under-tenants is
about 8,000, the great majority of whom, or their an-
cestors, had held the same lands in Saxon times, though
then as principals.

As might be expected, the great landholders are
those who had held posts in the invading army. Thus,
Robert earl of Mortain, William's half-brother, had re-
ceived the earldom of Cornwall, and 793 manors, scat-
tered over 20 counties ; Gilbert of Gand, said to be
the queen's nephew, had manors in 14 counties ; Alan,
earl of Richmond, had 442 manors, in 13 counties, and
the bishop Odo of Bayeux, 439 manors, in 17 counties p.
William had in his own hands, beside quit-rents and
various proceeds from others, about 1400 manors % many
of which had belonged either to King Edward, or to
Harold and his family. Though so liberal to his chiefs,
it is remarkable that none of William's sons appear
possessed of land. William's inferior followers and per-
sonal attendants were also rewarded, and among the
tenants in chief appear, beside others of their class,
Herbert the chamberlain, Alric, Hunfrid, and Tezelin,
the cooks ; Rayner the carpenter, Walter the cross-
bowman, Roger the farrier, Richard the forester, and
Bernard the falconer ; Robert the steward, and Milo the
porter.

The same record shews how many of the great
nobles and landholders had disappeared, and the few
who remain are found usually holding a portion of their
former lands as the sub-tenants of the invaders. Thus

o Exclusive of ecclesiastical corporations, which bring the total up to
about z4oa

P That is, he had possessed such a number, as well as the earldom
of Kent : but he had fidlen into disgrace, and his acquisitions were se-

auestered, or had passed into the lung's hands before the making of
le survey.

* But x6< are entered as having belonged to Edward, and zx8 to Harold ;
fhBt William's revenue must have greatly exceeded that of any of
'" kiiigs.

A.D. 1085.] DOMESDAY BOOK. 1 77

the lands of Edwin and Morcar had passed chiefly to
Alan of Britanny; and though their mother Alveva
possessed some manors in Leicestershire, her estates in
Suffolk were in the hands of the king. Edgar Atheling
had a single estate, of 700 or 800 acres, in Hertford-
shire, and his sister Christina had some manors in
Oxford and Warwick, one of which had been given
to her by William. On the other hand, Cospatric,
the earl of Northumberland, whose estates had embraced
a large portion of Yorksliire, held, at the time of the
survey, a few of them of Alan of Britanny, who
had dispossessed him ; Archil, his associate, who had
formerly had lands in Warwick, Leicester, Lincoln,
Cheshire, Nottinghani, and York, had a single manor
in Yorkshire; but, as might perhaps be expected from
the Norman love of the chase, several huntsmen appear
as tenants in chief of the lands they had held under
Edward the Confessor.

Those who had been under-tenants in Saxon times
seem to have usually continued in the same state, except
in the instances where properties once productive are
set down in Domesday Book as "wasted;" and whose
number in Yorkshire especially is so great as to justify
the received opinion, that the whole country between
the H umber and the Tees (and perhaps beyond, but
the survey goes no further north,) was reduced almost
to a desert by the Normans after their re-capture of
York in 1069.

Although the Domesday Book is evidently not in-
tended as a record of the population of the country',
it yet accurately shews the various ranks of society,
and their relative importance. Next after the king
stand the archbishops and other dignified ecclesiastics ;
then the barons, — ^which term appears to include all

' The whole number of persons recorded amounts only to 283, 242.

178 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. I085 —

the tenants in capite ■ ; the thanes, meaning sometimes
the remains of the Saxon nobility, sometimes the king's
inferior officers ; the vavassors, or free men holding
of the tenants in capite; the allodial tenants, few in
number, who were free from many, but not all, of the
restraints of the feudal system ; the knights, and the
free men, in both which classes great differences of
property and importance are apparent * ; the socmen,
who held of some great baron, but not by military
service ; the villeins, equivalent to the ceorles of Saxon
times : the borderers, coscets, and bures, whose con-
ditions have been very variously described by different
writers, but who may be taken generally as villeins*;
the servi and ancillae, equivalent to the bondmen and
bondwomen of Holy Writ.

A.D.1086. William knights his son Henry at West-
minster, at Pentecost ; holds his court at Salisbury, in
August, "where he was met by his councillors, and
all the landholders bowed themselves before him, and
became his men, and swore him oaths of allegiance."

William passes over to the Isle of Wight, and thence
to Normandy, first collecting large sums from the people,
" whether with justice or without.'*

■ The greater tenants were known as peers {pares curUe regis), and
persons who held largely of them were often styled their barons. The
citizens of London, York, Chester, and other important places (as the
Cinque Ports), also bore the title of barons at a later period.

*■ Sometimes the term knight evidently means nothmg more than a horse-
man, sometimes the knight is found as holding large estates ; the knights
holding of ecclesiastics appear to have had ordinarily the Uurgest pos-
sessions of any of their class. The ** free men " seem usually to have
been in a state of dependence on, or under the purchased protection
of a superior lord. A somewhat different class are the burgesses, men-
tioned as ** possessed " by the king in many towns ; they appear to have
been free men who paid a certain yearly sum for permission to prac-
tise certain trades.

» Villenage is regarded by Sir Edward Coke as the origin of the copyhold
tenure, and, like that, it included a great variety of privileges and burdens,
which cannot be included in any one satisfactory dennition.

A.D. 1087.] WILLIAM I, 179

Edgar Atheling leaves his court, and goes abroad,
for he received not much honour from him ;" his sister
Christina becomes a nun at Romsey.

" A very sorrowful year in England, from tempests,
and blight, and murrain among the cattle."

A.D. 1087. A very great fire in London ; St. Paul's
burnt.

" In the same year also, before the Assumption of
St. Mary (Aug. 15), King William went from Normandy
into France with an army, and made war upon his own
lord, Philip the king, and slew many of his men, and
burned the town of Mantes, and all the holy minsters
that were in the town ; two holy men that served God,
leading the life of anchorites, were burned therein."

William returns to Normandy, falls sick and dies,
at the priory of St. Gervase, near Rouen, Sept. 9. He
is buried at Caen, in St. Stephen's minster.

" Alas ! how false and how uncertain is this world's
weal ! He that was before a rich king, and lord of
many lands, had not then of all his land more than a
space of seven feet * ! and he that was whilome en-
shrouded in gold and gems, lay there covered with
mould !"

Events in General History.

A.D.

The Normans subdue Sicily 1072

Hildebrand becomes Pope, as Gregory VIL . . . 1073
The Emperor Henry IV. makes his submission to the

Church 1077

The Normans attack the Eastern Empire . . . .1081
Death of Robert Guiscard 1085

* Even this small space, according to the account of Orderic, was pur-
chased at the time of his funeral, from a knight whose patrimony had
been seized for the site of the abbey, and who interrupted the ceremcny
by a formal demand of justice.

William n. from liis Great Seal.

Arms ascribed to William II.

WILLIAM IL

This, the third son of William L, was bom about
1060. He appears to have attached himself more closely
to his father than did his elder brothers, being his con-
stant companion in war, and receiving the gift of the
kingdom of England from him. He fulfilled his father's
directions by setting at liberty several prisoners of con-
sequence, but he experienced little gratitude from them,
as they mostly joined the party of his brother Robert.
His reign was passed in turmoil, arising from frequent
conspiracies among his Norman nobles, but he tri-
umphed over them by the aid of the English, to whom
he promised good government. This promise, however,
he took no pains to keep. His principal adviser was
a Norman chaplain, named Ralph, but better known
as "Flambard" (Firebrand), who acted as his chief
justiciary, and travelled about the country practising
every extortion. William at length met a violent death,
Aug. 2^ II 00, but whether by accident or design is
uncertain'.

■ The dreams of the king and others, said to portend his death, recorded
by Orderic and William of Malmesbury, need no remark ; but there is a
singular statement on the subject in Eadmer. "Anselm, the exiled arch-
oishop of Canterbury, being with Hugo, the abbot of Cluny, the con-
versation turned on King William, when the abbot observed, — * Last
night that king was brought before God ; and by a deliberate judgment
incurred the sorrowful sentence of damnation.' How he came to know
this, he neither exp'ained at the time, nor did any of his hearers ask ;

-A.D. 1087.] WILLIAM II. 181

His well-known appellation of Rufus, or "the Red
King," was bestowed in consequence of his light hair
and ruddy complexion. He pursued the chase with
ardour, and although when his Norman nobles con-
spired against him he promised an alleviation of the
forest laws, he never granted it ; he affected extra-
vagant apparel, and led a most depraved life. He was
never married, and is, not known to have left any ille-
gitimate issue.

William, like his father, has ascribed to him the arms
of Normandy, "Gules, two lions passant gardant in
pale, or."

His contemporaries speak most unfavourably of this
king. They describe him as harsh and severe, formid-
able to his neighbours, and avaricious, yet both prodigal
and profligate ; fierce and overbearing in his manner in
public, but coarsely jocular with his intimate associates.
" God's Church he humbled ; he held bishoprics in his
hand ;" the revenues of the sees of Canterbury, Salis-
bury, and Winchester, and of eleven abbeys were re-
ceived by his officers in the year that he died\ "He
was loathed by nearly all his people, and odious to God,
as his end testified."

A.D. 1087. William hastens to England, is received as
king, and is crowned at Westminster by Lanfranc,
Sept. 26 ^

nevertheless, out of respect to his piety, not a doubt of the truth of
his words remained on the minds of any present. Hugo led such a life,
had such a character, that all regarded his discourse, and venerated his
advice, as though an oracle from heaven had spoken." From this, some
comparatively modem writers have concluded that William was the victim
of a conspiracy which was known to Hugo.

■> " On the deaths of Baldwin of St. Edmundsbury, and Simeon of Ely,
and other abbots, the royal officers seized the monasteries throughout Eng-
land, and issuing a slender allowance of food and clothing to their inmates,
paid the surplus into the treasury. After a while the king bestowed the
dignities on certain ecclesiastics about his court, not for^eir fitness for
such posts, but for their services rendered in secular affairs." (Ordericus
Vitalis, lib. x. c. 2.) Ralph, the justiciary, is said to have been the king's
adviser in these proceedings.

« The years of his reign are reckoned from. XbA& ^acj .

1 82 THE NORMAN £RA. [A.D. I087 —

Robert is acknowledged as duke in Normandy.

William repairs to Winchester, distributes much of
his father's treasure for masses for his soul to each
monastery and parish church, and releases many pri-
soners *^, agreeably to his djdng wish.

The Welsh make an incursion, and ravage the
country as far as Worcester.

A.D. 1088. Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William de S. Cari-
leph, bishop of Durham, Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, and
other Norman nobles, conspire against William, at Lent.
They raise troops and bum his farms and kill his men.

William obtains aid from the English, by promising
them good government. He captures Rochester Castle,
the stronghold of his brother Robert's partisans, drives
the two bishops from the kingdom *, and confiscates the
estates of the nobles.

Godred Cronan dies.
A.D.1089. Archbishop Lanfranc dies, May 24. The
king keeps the see vacant four years.

A great earthquake in England, Aug. 1 3.

Robert quarrels with his brother Henry, and im-
prisons him ; but after a short time sets him free.

Jestyn, lord of Glamorgan, rebels against Rhys ap
Tudor, prince of Dynevor, but is defeated.

A.D. 1090. William makes war on Robert in Normandy,
and gains most of the strong places, but is foiled in an
attempt on Rouen, Nov. 3'.

Jestyn procures Norman aid', and defeats and kills

* Among them Florence of Worcester enumerates Odo, bishop of Bayeux,
(reluctantly pardoned by his dying brother,) the earl Morcar, Roger Mont-
gomery, earl of Shrewsbury, Siward Bam, Alfgar the brother, and Wulfnoth
the son, of Harold ; Morcar and Wulfnoth, however, were shorly after again
imprisoned ; when the former was killed by some of his own people, and
the latter became a monk.

* Odo never returned to England, but William was reinstated in xogx, and
held his see until his death, Jan. z, 1096.

' This was mainly owing to help given to Robert by Henry, who having
captured Conan, the leader of William's partisans, with his own hands cast
him from a high tower, killing him on the spot.

^t was obtained for him by Einion, the son of the lord of Dyved
*ke), who bad served in the Normaji axmies, and consisted of

A.D. lOQI.] WILLIAM IL 183

Rhys ap Tudor. "With him,'* says Caradoc of Llan-
carvan, "fell the glory of Dynevor, the land being after-
wards rent in pieces and divided by the Norman cap-
tains."

Jestyn quarrels with Einion, who then makes a new
compact with the Normans ; they drive Jestyn from
Glamorgan, establish themselves on the sea coast, and
bestow the interior on Einion.

The king grants lands in Wales to such of his
knights as choose to attempt their conquest. In con-
sequence, Bernard of Neufmarchd subdues Brecknock ;
Henry of Neufbourg, earl of Warwick, seizes on Gower ;
Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, captures Baldwin's castle**
and Cardigan ; and Hugh, earl of Chester, ravages the
sea-shore by Conway, and occupies Anglesey.

A.B. 1091. William passes over to Normandy, in Janu-
ary. A treaty is concluded between him and Robert.
Robert surrenders many towns and castles to William,
in return for which his partisans have their forfeited
estates restored.

Edgar Atheling, deprived by William's wish of some
estates in Normandy, goes to Scotland.

Henry (afterwards king) is besieged in Mont St. Michel
by William and Robert in concert, and driven into exile.

Malcolm of Scotland invades England, in May, but
is repulsed.

William, accompanied by Robert, returns to England
in August, marches against Malcolm, and compels him
to do homage *.

Edgar Atheling has restoration of his Norman lands.

Robert, seeing the agreement badly kept by William,

Robert Fitzhamon and twelve other knights, and 3,000 men. ^ The Normans
erected their conquest into the Honour of Glamorgan, built eighteen castles
in it, and divided it into thirty-six knights' fees ; it was the first of the
palatine districts which were governed by the lords marchers.

*> This fortress, built in 1067, had been soon after surprised by the Welsh ;
the captor gave it his own name, Montgomery, which it still bears.

^ See A.D. Z073.

1 84 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. JO^It

returns to Normandy at Christmas, taking Edgar Athel-
ing with him.

A.D. 1092. The city of Bath given to the see of Wells,
and the seat of the bishop removed thither.

William obtains possession of Cumberland, driving
out Dolfin, (properly Thorfinn) a Northman ruler, and
sends many peasants to settle there and till the land.

The see of Thetford removed to Norwich.

The king of Scotland, accompanied by Edgar Athel-
ing, comes to William at Gloucester, to treat about
peace ; nothing is concluded, and they part in anger.

The Welsh attack and destroy many of the Norman
castles ; Pembroke and Brecknock hold out against
them.

Prince Henry gains possession of Domfront, and
re-establishes himself in Normandy.

A.D. 1003. William falls ill at Gloucester during Lent ;
he promises righteous laws, and gives lands to churches,
but on his recovery resumes them.

Anselm ^ is appointed to the see of Canterbury ; he
is consecrated Dec 5.

Malcolm invades England, but is killed, and Edward
his son mortally wounded, in Northumberland, No-
vember 13. The queen Margaret "was in her mind
almost distracted to death ; she with her priests went
to church, and performed her rites, and prayed before
God that she might die ;" she died "before the prayers
were ended" (Nov. 16) K Donald Bane, the brother of
Malcolm, is chosen king ; he drives out all the English
and Norman exiles.

Duncan, Malcolm^s illegitimate son, being a hostage
in William's hands, does homage to him, and having
English and French troops with him obtains the kingdoni,

^ He, like Lanfranc, was an Italian, and he was abbot of Bee for several

? rears ; under his rule, the renown of the abbey as a place of learning was
iiUy maintained, and he himself was the author of several valuable woncs.
> Margaret was canonized by Pope Innocent IV. in 1351.

A.D. 1095.] WILLIAM II. 185

The Normans ravage Kidwelly.
A.B.1094. The king refuses to surrender the tempo-
ralities of his see to Anselm.

Robert demands from the king the fulfilment of the
conditions of the treaty between them ; which is refused.

William crosses the sea to Normandy. War ensues
with Robert.

The Welsh re -conquer Anglesey. The castle of
Brecknock is abandoned, and most of the other Norman
garrisons are either slaughtered or withdraw beypnd the
Severn and Wye.

Duncan is killed, and Donald Bane re-obtains the
crown of Scotland.

AJ). 1006. Henry (afterwards king) passes into Nor-
mandy, as William's general, to make war on Robert.

Robert Mowbray, earl of Northumberland, heads
a conspiracy of the Norman nobles. William disperses
his opp>onents, and builds a castle called "Malveisin""
close to the earl's stronghold of Bamborough.

The earl is captured after a time by the garrison of
Malveisin, and, being threatened with blinding, surrenders
his fortress ",

The Welsh capture the castle of Montgomery, and
slay the garrison. William marches against them, but
they elude his pursuit. He encourages the building of
castles on the borders.

William visits Normandy, when Robert mortgages
the duchy to him, and departs for the East.

THE CRUSADES.

The Egyptian rule in Palestine ° was overthrown
about 1076 by the adherents of the Caliph of Bagdad,

» Literally, "Bad Neighbour."

■ He was long imprisoned at Windsor, but at length was allowed to be-
come a monk at St. Alban's, where he died in izo6. * See a.d. 1058.

1 86 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. IO95.

among whom a rude race from Central Asia, called
Turkmans, was included, and to Ortok, their leader,
the charge of Jerusalem was committed. These new
comers treated both the native Christians and the pil-
grims with every indignity and cruelty, and the nar-
rative, spread through Europe by Peter the Hermit p,
one of the sufferers, sufficed to determine its warlike
princes and people to unite in a great and worthy effort
for the rescue of the Holy Land from the hands of the
infidels.

It was at a council held at Clermont in November,
1095, under the presidency of Pope Urban II., that this
step was determined on, and the following August was
appointed for the departure of the expedition. The
time was anticipated by the impatience of a vast body
of peasants, who, placing themselves under the guidance
of Peter the Hermit and his lieutenant, Walter the Penny-
less, advanced as early as March from the borders of
the Rhine, but after suffering innumerable hardships they
were cut off at their very entrance into Asia by the
Sultan of Nice; Walter fell among them, but Peter
found shelter at Constantinople.

The main army of the crusaders started about the
appointed time, and passing, some through Germany,
Hungary, and the Greek dominions, others through Italy
and then by sea, they rendezvoused at Constantinople
in May, 1097. Their chief leaders were Godfrey of
Bouillon duke of Lorraine, accompanied by his brothers

p He was called either Peter L*Hennite from the name of his father, or
Peter d'Achery, from the place of his birth in Picardy. He was bom about
1053, and went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land at the age of 40. He
remained in Palestine some years after the establishment of the Christian
kingdom, and after his return to Europe in 1x05, he, in conjunction with
Lambert, count of Clermont, founded a priory at Neumostier, near Huy,
in fulfilment of a vow made during a storm at sea. He died at Neumostier
June 6, XX15, at the age of 63. Peter is described hy William of Tyre as of
small stature and contemptible in appearance, but with a clear cheerful eye,
and an eloquent flow of speech that carried all hearts with him.

A.D. 1095.] THE CRUSADES. 1 87

Eustace and Baldwin'; Raymond count of Toulouse,
and Adhemar bishop of Puy, the papal legate ; the
Norman princes Bohemond of Tarentum and his nephew
Tancred ; Robert, son of William I., and Stephen of
Chartres, his brother-in-law ; Robert count of Flanders,
and Hugh count of Vermandois, brother of Philip I. of
France. The aid of the nations of the West had been
invoked by the Emperor Alexius, but when this great
body arrived, it appeared so formidable that his fears
were roused, and he only consented to furnish the means
of transport across the narrow channel of Constantinople
after the leaders had done homage to him, and promised
to hold any conquests they might make as fiefs of his
empire.

This point settled, the host advanced ; its numbers
cannot be accurately ascertained, but it is stated by
a contemporary who was present (Fulcher of Chartres)
at 600,000 men able to bear arms, beside a multitude
of priests and monks, and women and children.

Nice, the scene of the destruction of the first body of
pilgrims, was besieged and taken before the end of June,
1097 ; its sultan was defeated at Dorylaeum, in Phrygia,
on the 4th of July ; and Godfrey and his companions,
having traversed Asia Minor, in October found them-
selves before Antioch, the capital of Syria, which they
immediately besieged, but did not capture until June,
1098. Here they remained, the prey of famine and
discord, until May, 1099, when they again set forth,
and passing along the sea -shore, overawing by their
numbers, but not pausing to make conquests, at length,
on the 7th of June, they came in sight of the object of
all their toils, the holy city, Jerusalem.

The city had changed hands while the crusade had
been in progress, and was now held by Alaeddin, the

4 They were the sons of Eustace of Boulogne, already mentioned. See
A.D. Z05Z.

1 88 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. 1096-^

lieutenant of the Caliph of Egypt, who resolutely de-
fended it for more than a month, but at length it was
stormed on the 1 5th of July ' ; and on Sunday, the 24ih
of the same month, Godfrey of Bouillon was chosen
ruler of the new kingdom ; he, however, piously refused
to wear a crown of gold where his Lord had worn a
crown of thorns, and contented himself with the modest
title of Baron {Dominus) of the Holy Sepulchre. His
reign was brief, but, though surrounded by powerful
states, his immediate successors enlarged their borders,
and before fifty years had elapsed the whole country
between Egypt and Mount Taurus, extending inland
nearly to Damascus, was in the hands of the Christians,
and was divided into the kingdom of Jerusalem, th^
principality of Antioch, and the county of Tripoli ; with
for some time the district of Edessa, beyond the Eu-
phrates. This last was soon lost again, but Antioch
and Tripoli remained much longer in the hands of the
Christians than Jerusalem itself.

A.D. 1096. William, count of Eu, charged with con-
spiracy, is overcome in single combat, and is blinded
and mutilated. Odo of Champagne and other nobles,
on the same charge, are deprived of their lands.

Several fruitless expeditions into Wales by the neigh-
bouring Norman lords. They, however, re-occupy An-
glesey.

The see of Waterford is founded by the Ostmen in
Ireland, and Malchus, an Irishman, but educated in
England, is consecrated thereto by Anselm archbishop
of Canterbury, to whom he promises canonical obedi-
ence, Dec. 28.

^ ' The day was Friday, and the hour three in the afternoon. The coin-
cidence of day and hour with those of the Passion was used by the leaders
to encourage their men to a fresh assault, they having been repulsed that
very morning.

A.D. 1099.] WILLIAM II. 189

A.D. 1097. William makes a campaign in Wales, from
Midsummer to August, without effect. The Norman
lords build castles on the border.

William builds a wall around the Tower, a bridge
over the Thames, and a great hall at Westminster ;
"and men were grievously oppressed .... and many
perished thereby."

Robert de Belesme, as William's general, makes
war on the French, and endeavours to drive them from
the Vexin •.

Anselm retires to Rome in October.
A.D. 1098. Edgar Atheling, with English aid, establishes
his nephew Edgar on the throne in Scotland.

Magnus III. of Norway conquers the Orkneys, the
Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, and ravages Anglesey'
and other parts of Wales. On his death, a few years
after, his conquests fell under the ecclesiastical influence
of England *.

A.D.1099. William holds his first court in the new
palace at Westminster at Pentecost.

Ranulph Flambard, the justiciary, is made bishop
of Durham, in May, and consecrated June 5.

* This small district lies on the right bank of the Seine, and was a frequent
source of contention between France and Normandy. The strong fortress
of Gisors was built in it by Robert of Belesme, who was a skilful engineer.

* At Anglesey he was encountered by Hugh Montgomery earl of Shrews-
bury, and Hugh of Avranches earl of Chester, who had re-captured the
island. The death of the former, as recorded in the Heimskringla, affords
an instance of clever marksmanship, which it is to be presumed could not
often be paralleled : —

" King Magnus shot with the bow; but Hugo the Brave was all over in
armour, so that nothing was bare about him excepting one eye. King
Magnus let fly an arrow at him, as also did a man who was beside the
king. They l)Oth struck him at once. The one shaft hit the nose-screen
of the helmet, which was bent by it on one side, and the other arrow hit
the earl's eye, and went through his head, and that was found to be the
king's. Earl Hugo fell, and the English fled, with the loss of many
people." The story is also told by Giraldus Cambrensis. The Normans
withdrew, having conferred the government on Owen ap Edwin, who is
said to have been the son of the widow of Edmund Ironside.

° The see of Sodor (or the Isles) and Man is of remote antiquity, being
ascribed by some writers to the time of the Diocletian persecution. Rey-
mund, or Wymund, a monk of the abbey of Seez, in Normandy, was con-
secrated to the see by Thomas, archbishop of York, between Z109 and Z114.

190 THE NORMAN ERA. [a^D. IIOO.

William passes into France, and subdues Maine*.
A.D. 1100. William is killed in the New Forest, Aug. 2.
He is buried in Winchester cathedral, " attended by many
of the nobility," says William of Malmesbury, " though
lamented by few."

Events in General History.

• A.D.

Civil war among the Mohammedan states in Spain . io88

The Crusades beg^n 1095

Jerusalem taken, and a Christian kingdom established . 1099

^ Elias, the dispossessed count, was the grandfather of Geoffrey of Anjou,
the founder of the House of Plantagenet.

Henry I., from Ms Great Seal.

Arms ascribed to Henry* I.

HENRY I.

Henry, the youngest son of William I., was bom at
Selby, in Yorkshire, in 1068. He received a more liberal
education than was then usual with princes, and hence
has the name of Beauclerc. He sided alternately with
his brothers Robert and William, but on one occasion
when they united against him he was driven into exile.
On William's death, being on the 'spot, he secured the
English throne, and gained Normandy a few years after.
His reign was marked by frequent quarrels with the
king of France, and the partisans of his brother, and
his latter years were devoted to a vain endeavour to
secure his crown for his daughter Maud. He died in
Normandy, after a considerable absence from England,
Dec. I, 1 135.

Henry was twice married ; first to the " good Queen
Maud," the niece of Edgar Atheling ■, and secondly to
Adelais of Lou vain, who survived him. His only le-
gitimate offspring were,

1. William, duke of Normandy, who perished at sea,
in 1 120 ; and

2. Maud, married first to Henry V. the emperor, and

■ She had been brought up in the nunnery of Romsey by her aunt, the
abbess Christina, and she left it unwillingly to become a queen. Her name
was Edith, but as Saxon appellations were discountenanced, it had been
changed to Matilda (or Maud).

192 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. IIOO—

secondly to Geoffrey of Anjou. She long contested Ste-
phen's possession of the throne, and died Sept. lo, 1167.

Two of Henry's numerous illegitimate issue were the
firm friends of his daughter Maud ; these were, Robert
of Caen, created earl of Gloucester^, and Reginald earl
of Cornwall. One named Richard was drowned with
Prince William ; of another Robert, of Gilbert, Henry,
and William, nothing particular is recorded. Of two
daughters named Maud, one became countess of Brit-
anny, the other countess of Perche ; Juliana was married
to Eustace de Pacie, lord of Breteuil ; Constance to the
viscount of Beaumont ; Elizabeth to Alexander of Scot-
land ; and of two other daughters, whose names have
not been preserved, one was the wife of the lord of
Montmorency, the other of William of Goet.

The arms ascribed to Henry, as to his two immediate
predecessors, are the arms of Normandy, "Gules, two
lions passant gardant in pale, or."

Henry shewed himself, throughout his career, trea-
cherous, rapacious, and cruel « ; but as he suffered no
other tyranny than his own, the Saxon Chronicler awards
to him the merit of making " good peace ;" and adds that
on his death " there was soon tribulation in the land, for
every man that ^ could, soon robbed another."

A.D. 1100. Henry, who had been chosen king at Win-
chester Aug. 3, is crowned at London Aug. 5 *, by Mau-
rice bishop of London. He grants a charter re-establish-

*> He was bom in 1109. His mother was Nesta, styled a princess of
Wales, in consequence of which he had great influence in that country,
which he used for the support of his sister's cause. He was a learned man,
and a most skilful general, and on his death in Z145 the contest ceased. By
his wife Mabel, the daughter of Roger Fitz Hamon, he had a large family,
and one of his granddaughters became the queen of John, but was divorced
by him, that he might marry Isabel of Angouleme.

^ Whether his brother Robert was blinded by his order is not certain, but
such barbarity was not unusual among the Normans ; and it is known that
Luke de Barri, a knightly poet, was thus treated by his positive command ;
hii> offence was some rhymes which he had composed agamst the king.

^ The years of his reign are reckoned from this day.

A.D. II03.] HENRY I. I93

ing the laws ascribed to Edward the Confessor, and
renews his grant at the following Whitsuntide *.

Ranulph, bishop of Durham, is imprisoned in the
Tower, Sept. 14.

Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, is recalled.
Robert returns from the crusade to Normandy ;
"and he was joyfully received by all his people, except
where the castles were held by King Henry's men."

Henry marries Maud, the orphan daughter of Mal-
colm of Scotland, Nov. 1 1 .

A.D. llOL Ranulph the bishop escapes from the Tower,
Feb. 4.

Robert prepares to invade England ; some of Henry's
ships join him.

Robert lands at Portsmouth, July 19. He is very
generally joined by the Normans, whilst the English
support Henry '. Robert proposes to put his claim to
the issue of single combat, when- Henry promises him
the payment of 3,000 marks of silver yearly, and the
pardon of his adherents. Robert withdraws to Nor-
mandy after Michaelmas.

AJ). 1102. Robert of Belesme, earl of Shrewsbury, a
partisan of Robert, fortifies his castles, but is defeated,
stripped of his lands, and driven from England. Part
of his lands granted to Jorwerth, prince of South Wales.

Olaf, son of Godred Cronan, obtains possession of
Man and the Hebrides.

A.D.1103. Magnus III. of Norway invades Ireland.
He is killed at Moycoba, August 24 '.

• Certain laws enst called those of Henry I., but they contain many mat*
ters whidi ^ew they were compiled, or at least added to, after his time.
The above charter in eeneral terms promises a reformation of all abuses,
and that only the lawful reliefs (see p. 155) shall be taken, while full free-
dom in reeaud to marriage is allowed to bodi wards and widows.

f In onwr to gain them over, Henry affected their manners and language.
This greatly enraged the Normans, who styled him and his queen, Uo£ic
andGodiva*

t He is mentioned in the Heimskringla as Magnus Barbeen (Magnus the
Barelegged), firam having usually worn the Scottish kilt after his return fircNOi

194 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. II03>-

A council at London in September. Ansekn opposes
the attempt of the king to compel bishops to receive m-
vestiture from. him. Reyndm, who had been appointed
by the king bishop of Hereford, resigns the see, and
William Gififard, bishc^ ofWindbester, is banished. An-
selm also leaves England.

A.D. 1104. Robert of Belesme being received by Robert
in Normandy, a war ensues.

William, count of Mortain, is stripped of his lands,
and flees to Normandy.

A.D. 1106. Henry passes over to Normandy, landing at
Barfieur early in April ; " and almost all the castles and
the chief men in that land were subdued.''

Robert of Belesme comes to England to re-obtain
his lands, but is unsuccessful.

A body of Flemings settled in Pembrokeshire by the
king.

A.D.1106. Robert of Normandy comes to Henry at
Northampton, in Lent ; " and because the king would
not give him back that which he had taken from him
in Normandy, they parted in hostility, and the earl soon
went over sea again."

A council held at London, Aug. i, in which it is
agreed that bishops shall do homage to the king, but
not receive investiture from him. In consequence, the
bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, and Hereford, who
had before received their sees, and new bishops of Exeter
and Llandaff, are consecrated by Archbishop Anselm,
August II.

Henry passes into Normandy, and gains the battle
of Tinchebrai, Sept. 28, where' Robert, Edgar Atheling,

his expedition in Z098. The Irish are said to have received assistance against
him from the Normans settled on the Welsh coast ; and a design to invade
England being attributed to him, Henry seized a large sum of money be-
longing to him, which he found in the hands of an Anglo-Danish merchant
of Lincoln.

A.D. nil.] HENRY I. I95

the co\int of Mortain^, and others, are taken prisoners,
and subdues the whole country.

AJ). 1107. " This year died the king Edgar of Scotland,
on the ides of January, [Jan. 8J and Alexander his bro-
ther succeeded to the kinjgdom, as the king Henry granted
him."

Ranulph, bishop of Durham, is allowed to return to
his see *.

Cardigan conquered by Gilbert de Claret

Jorwerth, being considered an English partisan \ is
killed by his own son and nephew.

A.D. 1108. The see of Ely founded. Its first bishop was
Hervey, who had been driven from his see of Bangor by
the Welsh.

Philip I. of France dies, July 29 ; he is succeeded by
his son, Louis le Gros.

AJ>.1109. Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, dies,
April 21.

Henr/s daughter, Maud, is betrothed to the emperor
(Henry V.»)

A.D.1110. Philip Braiose, William Mallet, and others,
deprived of their lands.

A.D. UlL Henry passes over into Normandy, on ac-
count of troubles caused by Fulk of Anjou seizing on
the county of Maine ".

Griffin, the son of Rhys ap Tudor, returns from
Ireland, where he had found an asylum on the death
of his father *». He captures Caermarthen from the

^ The count of Mortain, after a long imprisonment, was allowed to become
a monk. His county was given to the kind's nephew, Stephen of Blois.

* He made his peace by surrendering Lisieux, of which he was governor
for Robert.

* He also overran West Wales, and received the title of earl of Pembroke ;
his grandson Richard was the successful invader of Ireland in the time of
Henry II.

' See A.D. XI03.

•" Owing to her youth, she was not married to him till Jan. 7, xxx4.

* It was his inheritance, of which his fiather-in-law Elias had been de-
prived by William Rufus.

* See A.D. 1090.

196 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. Ill I —

Nonnans, but is also opposed by Griffin ap Conan
and Owen ap Caradoc.

Owen is treacherously slain by the Normans '.

A.D. 1112. Henry passes the whole year in Normandy ;
he restores the lands of Philip of Braiose, but drives out
the earl of Evreux, William Crispin, and others, and
jseizes Robert of Belesme '.

A.D. 1113. Henry makes an inroad in Wales, in April,
and forces some of the chiefs to promise submission ;
he also allows the Marchers to build fresh castles.
Henry passes over to Normandy in September.

A,D. 1114. Thurstan, elected archbishop of York, Aug.
r5, refuses to receive consecration from the archbishop
of Canterbury '.

A.D. 1116. The Normans do homage and promise fealty
to William, the son of Henry.

AJ).1110. Henry assists his nephew, Theobald ot
Blois •, against the king of France ; in consequence,
" there were many conspiracies and robberies, and castles
taken in France and in Normandy."

The whole monastery of Peterborough burnt, Aug. 3.

A.D.1117. Henry passes into Normandy, and remains
there for three years* on account of the war with the
king of France and the counts of Anjou and Flanders.
"By this war was the king a great loser both in land
and money. And his own men grieved him most, who

P Owen, who had long been connected with the Nonnans, had some time
before carried off Nesta, the wife of Stephen of V^dsor, governor of Pem-
broke ; he was now lulled by him, while employed in concert against Griffin,
alUiough« by the king's command, they had been formally reconciled.

4 Robert, after escaping from Tinchebrai, had entered the service of the
King of France. Louis sent him on an emba^ssy to Henry, who, however,
refused to receive him as such, and had him tried on a charge of embezzling
die royal revenue in former years when he held the^ earldom of Shrewsbury.
Bein^ found guilty, he was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, and at last
he died of voluntary starvation in the castle of Wareham, a.d. xzi8.

' He was eventually consecrated by the pope, Oct. 19, 1x19.

■ Brother of Stephen, afterwards kiiig, and of Henry, bishop of Win-
chester.

* Roger, bishop of Salisbury, governed in his absence.

A.D. 1 121.] HENRY I. I97

often turned from him and betrayed him; and going
over to his foes, surrendered to them their castles."

A.D.1118. Death of Queen Maud at Westminster",
May I.

Henry is defeated before Alengon by the count of
Anjou *, Dec.

The order of Knights Templars founded; their
standard called Beauseant, "Per fess, sable and ar-
gent ;" and their badge " A cross patriarchal, gules,
fimbriated, or."

AJ).1119. The count of Flanders (Baldwin VII.) dies
of wounds received at Arques, in Normandy, June 17.

Henry's son William marries Matilda, daughter of
FULK, count of Anjou, in June, and does homage to the
king of France for Normandy.

Henry defeats the king of France at Brenville,
Aug. 20.

Pope Calixtus endeavours to prevail on Henry to
set at liberty his brother Robert, as a pilgrim and soldier
of the Holy Sepulchre, but without effect.

A.D.1120. David is appointed bishop of Bangor by
Griffin, prince of North Wales, after the see had been
vacant eleven years ; he is consecrated by the arch-
bishop of Canterbury, April 4.

Peace is made with the king of France, and Henry
returns to England.

His son William, and two of the king's illegitimate
children, with many young nobles, perish by shipwreck,
Nov. 25.
A.D. 1121. Henry marries Adelais of Lou vain, Feb. 2.

V She had long quitted her husband's profligate court, and resided in the
monastery, occupied with works of charity and devotion, personally tending
the sick, and practising great austerities ; her chief delight was m church
music, the professors of which she liberally patronized.

* The townsmen had called in the count to protect them from the tyranny
of their governor, Stephen of Blois. The royal garrison were besieged in
the citadel, and in attempting to relieve them Henry met with a severe
defeat.

198 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. II2I-—

Henry inarches against the Welsh ; " and after the
lung's will they agreed with him/

The hospitallers of Jerusalem become a military
body, called the knights of St John ; their standard
is "Gules, a cross argent," their badge a white cross
of peculiar form.

AJ).1122. Henry goes to Normandy, and reduces
several rebellious barons.

AJ).1128. Robert Bloet, bishop of Lincoln, dies sud-
denly, while hunting with the king, Jan. 10.

The qount of Anjou demands the dower of his
daughter, the widow of Williaan, which the king refuses ^

Several barons in Normandy take arms in favour of
William, the son of Robert. The king passes over in
June, and strengthens many castles.

A.D. 1124. Henry remains in Normandy, contending
with the king of France and the count of Anjou, " but
most of all with his own men.'*

Alexander of Scotland dies, April 27, and is suc-
ceeded by his brother David, who is also earl of Hunt-
ingdon in England *.

" Full heavy year was this : the man that had pro-
perty was bereaved of it by violence, the man that had
not was starved '.''

A.D. 1125. Severe punishment inflicted on the moneyers
for issuing base coin, " so that a man that had a pound
could not lay out a penny at a market *."

Henry the emperor (husband of Maud) dies. May 22.

y The earl on this fi;ave her younger sister, Sibylla, in marriaee to William,
the son of Robert ofNormandy, and supported him with all his power for
a while. At length he deserted him, to form a new alliance between his
son and Henry's dati^hter, when William divorced his wife, and married the
sister of the ^ueen ofFrance, which procured him the aid of Louis.

* He obtained the earldom by marriage with Maud, widow of Simon de
St Liz, and dau^ter of Waltheof. He transmitted it to his son Henry, but
on the death of that prince it came to Simon^ the son of the former earl

• Statements in substance the same occur m almost every year of this and
the foUoiving reign.

*> They were summoned to Winchester at Christmas, and there mutilated.

AJ>. II29.] HENRY L I99

A council held at London, in which the marriage of
priests is condemned.

A.D.1126. Henry returns to England in' September,
bringing with him his daughter Maud, and many Nor-
man prisoners, ^whom he ordered to be kept in strong
bonds."

David, king of Scotland, visits the king, and remains
with him for some time.

Robert of Normandy is given into the custody of
Robert of Gloucester, the king's natural son, and con-
fined at Bristol

Henry obliges his nobles to swear to receive his
daughter Maud as their future queen *, Dec 25 •*.

Thurstan of York contends for the primacy in the
king's presence, at Christmas.

A.D. 1127. Maud is betrothed on Whitsunday (May
22) to Geoffrey, the son of the count of Anjou, who
thereupon deserts the cause of William of Normandy.

William of Normandy is put in possession of
Flanders by the king of France.

A.D.1128. Maud and Geoffrey of Anjou are married,
in the spring.

Henry goes to Normandy, being at war with his
nephew, William, count of Flanders.

William is wounded in battle, and dies, July 27.

Ranulph, bishop of Durham, dies. Sept 5.

Hugh of the Temple visits Normandy, England, and
Scotland, and collects many men and much money for
the relief of the Holy Land •.
A.D. 1129. Henry releases some of the Norman pri-

c Her uncle, the king of Scotland, first took the oath, then Stephen
(afterwards king), said next Robert earl of Gloucester, her natural brother
and most faithful friend.

•* Some writers say January i, 1127.

" The Saxon Chronicler speaks of the ** great treasures in gold and in
silver " that he received, but ne probably exaggerates the matter, when he
says, "Tliere went with him and after him more people than ever did
before, since that the first expedition was in the days of Pope Urban."

200 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. II29— II35.

soners; he takes earl Waleran into favour, "and they
became as good friends as they were foes before." Maud
is driven from Anjou by her husband, July.

A council is held at London against married priests.
Henry of Blois, the king's nephew, is appointed
bishop of Winchester Oct. 11, and consecrated Nov. 17.
A great earthquake in England, Dec. 6.
A.D. 1130. Henry passes over to Normandy.
A.D.1131. Henry returns to England, bringing with
him his daughter Maud, to whom fealty is again sworn
at Northampton in September.
A.D. 1132. Maud returns to her husband in the spring '.
The see of Carlisle is founded, April 11. Adelulf,
the first bishop, is consecrated August 6, 1133.

A.D.1183. Henry goes to Normandy, and remains
there until his death.

A.D.1136. Robert of Normandy dies in confinement,
Feb. 10.

Geoffrey of Anjou quarrels with Henry, and seizes
on several castles in Normandy.

Henry dies at Rouen, in the night of December i.

Events in General History.

A.D.

The Emperor Henry V. captures Rome, and is crowned

there iiii

The Venetians become powerful at sea . . .1123

' He had now become count of Anjou, by the departure of his father*
Fulk, for the Holy Land.

Stephen, from his Great SeaL

Irms ascribed to Stephen.

STEPHEN •.

Stephen, the third son of the count of Blois of the
same name, and of Adela, daughter of William L, was
bom probably about 1094. He was brought up at the
court of his uncle Henry I., received many benefits from
him, and professed himself a warm supporter of the
succession of his cousin the empress Maud. Yet he
supplanted her, as Henry had done his brother, and,
in the words of the Saxon Qironicle, " in his time all
was dissension, and evil, and rapine." He maintained
his acquisition for a while by force of arms, but on
the death of his son Eustace, he came to a compromise,
in virtue of which he passed the last year of his reign
in comparative peace, and died Oct. 25, 11 54.

Stephen married Matilda, daughter of Eustace count
of Boulogne, who energetically supported him in his
struggle for the crown ; he had by her three sons and
two daughters.

1. Eustace, his intended heir, a violent and profligate
youth, died Aug. 18, 11 53.

2. William, who received the patrimonial estates and
the earldom of Surrey, and died in the service of Henry
II. at the siege of Toulouse, in 11 60.

3. Mary, who became a mm, but leaving her convent

• Stephen is usually styled an usurper, which is true, but the same
reproach applies to the whole Norman line, not one of them being the
direct representative of his predecessor.

202 THE NORMAN ERA. [a.D. II35 —

married Matthew of Flanders, count (in her right) of
Boulogne.

4. Baldwin ; and 5. Maud, who died young.

Two illegitimate sons are mentioned: William, of
whom nothing remarkable is known, and Gervase, who
died abbot of Westminster, in 11 6a

The arms ascribed to this king differ greatly from
those given to his predecessors. He is said to have
borne "Gules, three sagittaries or;'' but it has been
conjectured that this is a mistake, and that he should
be represented as bearing two lions, the sagittary being
his cognizance.

Stephen is by the Saxon Chronicler represented as a
" good man ;" but it is added that he " did not execute
justice f thus chargeable with neglect of the imperative
duty of a ruler, his claim to the appellation ''good'' is
extremely doubtfuL He, however, seems to have been
of a placable temper, as he received into favour many
who had most strongly opposed him, or deserted him ;
and he is not recorded to have dealt hardly with any
of his opponents when they fell into his power.

A.D.1135. Stephen of Blois declares that Henry had
disinherited his daughter Maud, and coming to London
is received as king. He is crowned, Dec. 26 *.
Maud is acknowledged in Normandy.

A.D. 1186. A great council at Oxford, at which Stephen
issues a charter, promising to respect the privileges oi
the Church, to do away with all injustices and exactions,
to ^vQ up the forests formed by Henry, and to observe
** the good and ancient laws and just customs, in murders,
pleas, and other causes."

David, king of Scotland, invades England in Feb-
ruary, but at Durham agrees to a truce.

i> The years of his reign are reckoned from this day.

A.D. II38.] STEPHEN. 203

Robert, earl of Gloucester, comes to £ngland,
and takes a conditional oath of allegiance to Stephen.
The bishops also swear fealty to him '* so long as he
should maintain the liberty of the Church."

Baldwin de Rivers, and other nobles, declare in fa-
vour of Maud, and receive aid from David of Scotland.

The Welsh ravage the border counties.

Exeter, held by Baldwin de Rivers, is captured by
Stephen.

Griffin ap Conan dies. He is succeeded by his son,
Owen Gwynneth, who at once attacks the Normans and
Flemings in South Wales, and expels them from many of
their strongholds.

A.D. 1137. Stephen passes into Normandy, and spends
Henry's treasure', without securing adherents. He at-
tempts to secure Robert of Gloucester, but fails, and
returns to England.

A.D. 1188. Robert, earl of Gloucester, formally renounces
the fealty he had sworn to Stephen, and prepares for an
invasion of England. The king seizes his lands, except
the castle of Bristol, which is successfully defended, and
its garrison harasses his partisans.

David of Scotland invades England, but is defeated
at the battle of the Standard, near Northallerton, Au-
gust 22.

Several partisans of Maud declare themselves ; Ste-
phen marches against them, and captures some of their
castles.

The nobles who adhere to Stephen extort lands and
honours from him. and build castles at their pleasure.

A frightful state of confusion ensued. The nobles of
both parties " cruelly oppressed the wretched men of the
land with castle-work, and when the castles were made*
they filled them with devils and evil men ^" They threw

* " Much had Kin^ Henry gathered, gold and silver ; but no good did
men for his soul with it"

* These citations are from the Saxon Chronicle. William of Malmesbury
also says, "There were many castles throughout England, each defending

f04 THE NORMAN ERA. [a.D. 1138^

people into dungeons, and inflicted on them unutterable
tortures. Every man robbed another who could. " Never
yet was there more wretchedness in the land ; nor ever
did heathen men worse than they did ; for after a time
they spared neither church nor churchyard, but took all
the goods that were therein, and then burned the church
and all together.** " They said openly, that Christ slept,
and all His saints. The bishops and learned men cursed
them continually, but the effect thereof was nothing to
them, for they were all accursed, and forsworn, and
abandoned •.*'

The king svunmons the bishops of Salisbury, Ely, and
Lincoln to a council at Oxford, at Midsummer, and com-
pels them to surrender their castles ; he also deprives
the bishop of Ely of his see ^

A.D. 1189. A council held at Winchester, under Henry
of Blois, the bishop (Stephen's brother), as papal legate,
in which the king's dealings with the bishops are con-
demned, Aug. 29.

Maud and her brother Robert of Gloucester land at
Portsmouth, September 30.

Maud is besieged in Arundel castle ^ by Stephen, but
is allowed to retire to Bristol.

Robert of Gloucester takes the field, whilst Maud
remains, assuming royal state, at Gloucester.

Richard de Clare, earl of Hertford, is killed by the
Welsh.

A.D. 1140. Stephen passes part of the year in the Tower
of London, attended only by the bishop of Seez, " for the
others disdained or feared to come to him."

its neighbourhood, or, more properly, laying it waste ;" his picture of the
sufferings of the people is substantially the same as in the text.

• It is remarkable, however, that a greater number of religious houses was
founded in this than in any preceding reign.

' Roger, bishop of Salisbury, had been the minister of Henry I. ; Nigel
of Ely and Alexander of Lincoln were his nephews. The strong castles of
Sherborne, Salisbury, Malmesbury, Devizes, Newark, and Sleaford were in
^ev hands. ^ The bishop of Salisbury died Dec. 4, 1x39; but his nephews
"^'alned their possessions when Stephen himself was made prisoner in xz4x.
// fvas the property and residence of Adelais of Louvain, her stepmother.

i^^ their 1

A.D. 1 141.] STEPHEN. 205

Henry of Blois attempts to induce Stephen and Maud
to come to terms, but without success.

AJ). 1141. Stephen grants honours to Ralph de Gemon,
earl of Chester, and entrusts to him the castle of Lincohi.
Afterwards, at the instigation of the people of Lincoln, he
besieges him there, occupying the cathedral as a fortress.

Ralph escapes, and procures succour from Robert of
Gloucester*, when Stephen is attacked and captured,
Feb. 2 ; he is carried prisoner to Bristol. The citizens
of Lincoln are slaughtered by the victors.

Henry of Blois joins Maud, and receives her into
Winchester, March 3.

Maud is recognised as "Lady of England" by a
synod at Winchester, April 7.

The citizens of London, and Matilda, Stephen's queen,
claim his release, ineffectually, April 9. Many of Ste-
phen's party excommunicated, April 10.

Maud holds her court at London at Midsummer,
but giving offence by her haughty manner, she is shortly
driven out by the citizens, and retires to Oxford.

Robert de Sigillo, who had been appointed bishop of
London by Maud, is seized by Geoffrey de Magnaville,
and committed to the Tower, July 2.

Maud names Geoffrey de Magnaville * earl of Essex
by letters patent, this being the first instance of such mode
of creation.

Maud quarrels with Henry of Blois. He retires to
Winchester, makes an agreement with Matilda, the wife
of Stephen, and absolves his friends.

Maud besieges him in the castle of Winchester, but
is herself besieged in the palace, by William of Ypres, the
general of Matilda.

Winchester is burnt by the combatants, Aug. 2.

k Ralph had married Robert's daughter, and she was then in the castle.
* Also called Mandeville. Some writers say tha£ he had already received
the title from Stephen a.d. 1136.

2o6 THE NORMAN ERA. [A.D. II4I —

Maud makes her escape from the city during the
truce on Holy Cross-day (Sept 14), but Robert of Glou-
cester is captured in covering her retreat

Robert of Gloucester is exchanged for Stephen,
Nov. I, and joins Maud at Gloucester.

Henry of Blois holds a council at Westminster, in
which he excommunicates Maud's adherents, Dec. 7 ; an
emissary of Maud openly reproaches him "with great
harshness of language," for his inconstancy.

A.D. 1142. Maud removes to the castle of Oxford, while
Robert seeks ineffectually aid from her husband Geoffrey.

Olaf does homage to Magnus V. of Norway, for Man
and the Isles ; he is killed by his nephews, June 29.
Godred, his son, succeeds.

Maud is besieged in Oxford by Stephen, in September.

Robert returns, bringing with him Prince Henry, and
some troops, but is unable to relieve the castle.

Maud, after a while, escapes to Wallingford, Dec* 20.
A.D. 1143. Maud retires to Gloucester, and is generally
acknowledged as sovereign in the western counties ; Ste-
phen holds London and the eastern and central counties ;
David, king of Scotland, rules beyond the Tees.

The partisans of Stephen and Maud devastate the
country between them.

The Normans storm St. Asaph. Gilbert is consecrated
its bishop by Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury.

Godred of Man invades Ireland.
A.D. 1144. Owen captures Aberteivi from the Normans.
A.D. 1146. Sigfrid, bishop of Chichester, is driven from
his see K

Robert of Gloucester dies, October 31 ; Maud with-
draws to Normandy \

k He was deposed by a synod, (on what charge is unknown,) and died
in XX51.

^ She was in peril of shipwreck on her voyage, and she founded a religioiis
house on the spot where she landed, near Cherbourg.

AJ>. 1 153.] STEPHEN. 207

Owen is successful against the Nonnans, and takes
the castles of Caermarthen and Mold from them.

AJ). 1146. Bernard of Clairvaux preaches a new cru-
sade> which is headed by the emperor Conrad and Louis
VII. of France ■, but effects nothing of importance.

AJ>.1147. Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, op-
pressed by Henry of Blois, the papal legate, and driven
into exile. He returns, and places the king's demesnes
under an interdict

AJ). 1149. Henry, the son of Maud, visits Scotland, and
is there knighted by King David. He makes an inroad
on the north of England, but without success, and soon
returns to Normandy.

Madoc, prince of Powys, and the earl of Chester, in-
vade North Wales ; they are defeated by Owen at Con-
silt, near Flint.

A.D.1160. The Norman settlements in South Wales
greatly harassed by the sons of GrifHn, the son of Rhys
ap Tudor", the last prince of the country.

AJ). 115L The earl of Chester is imprisoned, and obliged
to give up the castle of Lincoln and other strongholds.

Theobald and the other prelates refuse to crown
Eustace, the son of Stephen.

Death of Geoffrey of Anjou, Sept 7.

A.D. 1152. Henry, the son of Maud, lands in England,
and the war is renewed.

The castle of Tenby captured by the Welsh.

A.D. 1168. David of Scotland dies, May 24. He is suc-
ceeded by his grandson, Malcolm IV,"

Eustace, the son of Stephen, dies, Aug. 18 ; in con-
sequence a treaty is made, Nov. 7, which provides for the
succession of Henry to the throne on the death of Ste-

** The king of France was accompanied by his wife, Eleanor of Guienne,
but he divorced her soon after his return, and she then married Henry of
Anjou, (afterwards Henry Ilj

■ See A.D. izxz.

• His son Henry, earl of Huntingdon, had died shortly^before.

2o8 THE NORMAN ERA. [A,D. 1 1 53, 1 1 54.

phen. Fealty is accordingly sworn to him as the future
king. He remained some time in England, and the
Saxon Chronicler remarks, " All men loved him, for he
did good justice, and made peace.**

Eystein, king of Norway, ravages the coast of Eng-
land, and destroys Scarborough.

A.D. 1154. Henry returns to Normandy after Easter.

Stephen dies at Dover Priory, Oct. 25, and is buried
at FevershamP.

Henry is sumimoned from Normandy ; he lands in
England Dec. 7.

Events in General History.

Conrad founds the Hohenstaufen dynasty
The kingdom of Portugal founded
Civil wars of the Italian cities commence
The Almobades commence their rule in Spain
The second Crusade . «

A.D.

1138

1 139
1144

1 145

1 147

NOTE.
The Cinque Ports.

Ever since Norman times a peculiar oiganization has been
given to certain towns on the south-east coast of England, which
appeared best situate for the defence of the country from foreign
invasion 1. Proceeding from east to west, these towns are, Sand-
wich, Dover, Hjrthe, New Romney, and Hastings, and though
to these there have since been added the "ancient towns" of
Winchelsea and Rye, the old appellation of the Cinque Ports is
retained. The organization as a whole appears only to date
from the time of King John, but most, if not all, of the ports
had separate charters of privilege long before. The distnct in

P At the suppression of the monastery in die time of Henry VIII. the
tomb was destroyed, the leaden cofHn stolen, and the king's bones thrown
into the sea.

1 There appears reason for believing that something similar existed under
the Romans U). 44). We, however, find no mention of anything of the kind
during the Saxon period, and the mode of government by mayors or bailiffs
and jurats, which prevailed until recently in each town, is confessedly of
Aomuui origin.

THE CINQUE PORTS. 20g

which they are situate, extending from the mouth of the Thames
as far westward nearly as Brighton, is in reality a county pala-
tine, presided over by a high officer of State, the lord-warden,
in whose hands are still placed much of the civil, military, and
naval powers elsewhere entrusted to several individuals.

This district has, however, suffered vast changes in the course
of ages that have elapsed since the Norman invasion. Its duty
of guarding the coast has been assumed by the general govern-
ment, and, as a necessary consequence, its peculiar privileges
have almost entirely passed away. But a more serious disaster
has happened from another cause, for the sea has receded, and
not a single safe natural harbour is now to be found along the
whole line of coast

Sandwich, Dover, and Romney are mentioned in Domesday
Book, and it is clear that Sandwich was once the head of the
confederacy ; Hastings succeeded, but was in turn supplanted
by Dover, which last has long been regarded as the principal
port. The great duty of the Cinque Ports was to provide a fleet
lor the defence of the narrow seas, and we learn from an ordi-
nance of Henry III., in 1229, the relative importance of each
town at that time. Dover is ordered to provide twenty -one
ships, having twenty-one men and one boy on board each of
them ; Winchelsea ten ; Hastings six ; Sandwich, Hythe, Rom-
ney and Rye five each ; these vessels were to serve for fifteen
days at the expense of the towns, but to be paid by the king if
required beyond that time. The total number was 57 ships and
1,254 men and boys ; and this arrangement continued until the
abolition of the feudal system.

The district had many peculiar courts and important privin
leges, and the inhabitants were so jealous of these, that no manl
was allowed to be a freeman in any other town ; a record at
Sandwich shews that, in 1532, a man was disfranchised for
suing in the "foreign courts" at Westminster; and in 1668
another was fined for preferring an indictment at the quarter
sessions of the county. A participation in their privileges was
eagerly sought by "foreigners," and these "advocants," or
clients, in time became so numerous that a regulation forbidding
any more to be received was passed in a general assembly of
the Ports in 1434 ; before this; however, several places had
been accepted as subordinate members, or "limbs," of the
chief ports, some of them lying considerably inland '.

Most of the courts of the Cinque Ports have fallen into disuse,,

' Of these "limbs" Seaford was probably once the most important, as it
also sent barons to parliament. Each coast-town from Pevensey to Favers-
ham is a member, as also is Brightlinesea, in Essex, and, among other
places, Tenterden, Lydd, Sarr, Fordwicb, and Grange, or Grenche, near
Chatham, which are remote from the sea.

210 THE NORMAN ERA.

although legal process from the courts of Westminster has stiD
to be executed by Che bodar of Dovei Castle, who is an officer
of the lord-warden. The courts of Brotherhood and Guestling,
held in lura yearly in each port, used to determine the mode of
rendering the naval service to which they vrere bound, and still
meet occasionally, for certain purposes, at New Roinney ; the
court of Shepway was the only one in which their freemen could
be impleaded, ajid was originally held at Shepway-cross, near
Hythe, but afterwards removed to various places, all, however,
within the jurisdiction ; the court of Chancery, now disused, was
held at Dover ; and in that town are still held the court of Ad-
miralty, and the court of Lodemanage, for regulating pQots. The
Admiralty court was once held on the open shore at Sandwich,
but was removed to Dover at least as early as the thirteenth
century.

The ships of the Cinque Ports formed for many ages a most
important part of every English fleet ; the records of each reign
shew how well they performed their duty, and accordingly we
find (hem frequently rewarded by chatters and immunities. As
one instance, Edward 1., by his charter of May 20, 1277, gave
them jurisdiction over the distant port of Yarmouth, in return
for their aid against Llewelyn ; but this supremacy was strenu-
ously resisted, was by a charter of Elizabeth, 1576, limited to
a co-ordinate jurisdiction, and has long been abandoned (in
1663) ; the last great charter (that of Charles II., Dec. 23, 1668,)
gives the limit of their rule as from Shore-beacon, Essex (at the
mouth of the Thames,) to the Red Cliff, at Seaford. They had,
however, almost a monopoly of the trade with France and Spain,

■ and down to a comparatively late period they were careful to
distinguish their ships and men from any others. Thus in the
Cinque Ports' Register, under the year 1514, we read, " Every
person that goeth into the navie of the portis shall haue a cote
of while cotyn, with a red crosse, and the
armes of the portis undemeathe, that is to
say, the halfe lyon and the halfe ship. " They
looked on themselves as peculiarly ' ' King's I
Men"- — the Royal Navy of the time — and
assumed a superiority over the mariners of '
cither ports, which often led to fierce bat-
tles. The Ports continued distinct from
other places until the passing of (he Mu-
nidpal Corporations Reform Act, by (he
operation of which many of the peculi- immtthBOljilMPd
uities of their local government, and most
irf theit exclusive pnvil^es, have been abolished.

The office of lord-warden of Ihe Cinque Ports has ever been

ield bj men of high rank, and some of the litst names in Eng-

THE CINQUE PORTS. 211

lish history are to be found on the roll; but, like the Ports
themselves, it has now ceased to have any political importance,
and is generally bestowed on the prime minister for the time
being on the occasion of a vacancy. Thus it has been held by
"William Pitt, and the earl of Liverpool, and, more appro-
priately, by the late duke of Wellington ; it is now enjoyed
by Earl Granville, whose official residence is Walmer Castle,
near Deal.

Of the present state of the Ports little need be said. They
return eight members to parliament, who are still styled barons,
and have the right (not exercised, however, of late) to an im-
portant place at coronations ■ ; and they are yet distinct from
the counties in which they are situate, and have gaols, coroners,
&C., of their own ; but as far as commerce and navigation are
concerned, they have long been the mere shadows of what they
once were, being in many cases eclipsed by their members,
which have risen in proportion as the head Ports have decayed.
For instance, Margate and Ramsgate have ten times the popu-
lation and trade of their legal superior, Sandwich, though
Ramsgate is still governed by a deputy from the mayor of
that town. Dover, Hythe, and Hastings, however, enjoy some
importance as sea-bathing resorts.

■ Up to the coronation of George IV. in 1821 they bore canopies with
silver bells over the sovereign in the procession, and received them for their
fee. In ancient times these were usually bestowed on the shrine of some
saint, very commonly on that of St. Thomas at Canterbury ; more recently,
they have been broken up and sold, but a few of the bells are to be found
preserved in the town-halls of one or two of the ports. The barons were
formerly sixteen in number, but they were reduced one half by the operation
of the Reform Act of 1832.

INDEX.

Abbrpraw, kings of, 74i> 95*,

Abraham, bishop of St. David's, 171.

Adam, a justiciary, 174.

Adda, 5a.

Adela^ daughter of V^Iiam I., x6a

Adelais of Louvain, wife of Henry I.,

X91, 197, 20A.
Adelfius, a bishop, 33.
Adeliza^ daughter of^lliam I., x6o.
Adelulf, first bbhoi> of Carlisle, 300.
Adelwald of Bemida, 57.
Adhemar, bishop of Puy, 187.
Adminius, a fugitive Bnton, x8.
Ae^elric, bishop of Durham, 164.
Aegelwine, bbhop of Durham, x68.
JEttzivt: see Emma.
Aelraier, an abbot, xo8.
Aelfwald of East Anelia, 63.
iCsc, or Esc, son of Rengist, 38, 49.
iEtius, consul, 38.
Agricola, ao, aa, a^ 34.

' Calphurmus, lieutenant in

Britain) 35.
Aidan, 48, 55, 57.
Aids, feudsu, X55.
Alaeddin. a Saracen, 187.
Alan, duke of Brets^e and earl of

Richmond, x6o, X76, X77.
Alaric, 35.
Alban, St., 3x.
Alban's, St., xx, 17.
Albinus Clodius, emperor in Gaul,

36.
Alchred of Northumbria, 64.
Alcluid, 78.

Aldbriht> the atheline, 63.
Aldfrith of Northumbria, 60, 63.
Aldgitha (or Edith), wife of Harold

If., X3S, X30.
Aldred, bishop of Worcester, 134,

X36 ; becomes archbishop of York,

X30. i33» 161. 163, 164.
Alexander I. of Scotland, X95, 198.
' III., pope, 1x9.

bishop of Lincoln, 304.

Severus, emperor, 39.

Alexius, the emperor, 187.
Alfenus Senecio, 37.

Aligar, brother of Harold II., xSa.
Alfred the Great, reign of, 79 — 88.
son of Ethelred II., loi, 109,

X16.
Alfwold of Northumbria, 64, 65.
Algitha, widow of Siferth, 11 x ; wife

of Edmund Ironside, 16,
Allectus, the usurper, 3X.
Allodial tenants, X78.
Alric the cook, X76.
Alveva, mother of Edwin and Mor-

car,

X77-.

Anarawd, 7

Anastasius ill., pope, 91.

Alypius^ vicar in Britain, 33.
Ambrosius, 37.
Ammianus MarceUinus, 44.
Amphibalus, 31.

fll.,^
Ancalites, a Britfsh tribe, 17.
Ancillae, of the Domesday Book, X78.
Anderida, xo, 49.
Andreds-cester, 49.
Anglesey, 83, X04, 169.
Anglo-Danes, the, 83.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, x>
-^— ^— — — hierarchy, 148.
laws and government,

X34— 150.
Anjou, Fulk, count of, X95, 198, 300.
Geoffrey of, father of Henry

II., X99, 300, 306, 307.
Anlaf Cuaran, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, xoo,

xos.

son of Godfrey, 96.

the White, 75, 7^, 77, 78,

80.

Tryggveson, 66, 103, 104.

Anna of East Anglia, S7-

Anselm, archbbhop of^ Canterbury,

x8o, 184, X85, x88, X89, 193, X94,

i9S«
Antioch, capture of, 187.

Antoninus, emperor, 35.

Itinerary ol

f
f,3-

ApoUinaris, Sidonius, his account of

the Saxons, 44.
Appledore, 86.
Arbogastes, 34.

X of the Caaaiter-

Aithur, KlDgrAu proiuncd cr
'iTTuuiu, a.

Aviii^don, bailie of, iii.
Athclmo;, meaiiiDg ^, 69.

AtlKlHy, AlfRdT RtRSt, 89.

— (Guthrum),

1, B}, Bt, 86.

f jurred, 7S, a

Aihclsiritli,
Alrebald, a

■Guili^Dib^

Augiutiiu, 53.
Augustutui, 30"
Aucugtia, auperor, 171 1\
Aiuiu Dtdim, ao. '
PUtoiiui Nepoi, pH

Bafcaacelde. council of, 61

Baldwin'! Caillc, i«3, 16;, iSj.
Bamborough CftBtlc, 185-
Bangor, tally fouDdadoD ol the :

AbVy''VS
tbe RoQ of, 11

Batlle Abl

1611 tbc

Banduiw,

Bcde... 11,3,, 49,63.
B*leaiie,»obert, eari otShicnblUT,
B^, iSritidi tribe, 9.

Beonucd, Ibe umrper, 63.
Beomwulf of Menu, 71, ;
Bettxiwald, attbbishop, 61
Bericiu, a Britisb fii^tjTe,
BetCiiCiUtl, R<^er, 165.

Bisaip,'Bawdict, $1.

Blelhscnl, brolber otGriffiD, 117.
Blobui (f NaMh WO^iCv-
BUxt, Roben, buhcp oCUaedbi, ig8.
BlcHs, Henry of, ^shim ofWIaches-

Siepiieit ofj 16&

SlephEB of, lod of ibe above,

■95. 'Vi'SO '■ »« Slf/Aim, Hug.

Boadioea: lee SniinSiw
Bohemood ctTanmam, 187.
Bordcm, 178,
Barli. what, ijt

fioudlcea, lA^ ao, ai,
BmioH, Fhibp, 195, igC

Bias, bther of CanicacB*, ao.

the sddoniiiui, 101.

: ieqakd rf iu

Secunda, 9, 47.

nu, title auumtd by Clan.

9; by ComDodlU, Ij: by

BrOilTicofVt

fim peopGng, a. ; duucal :

-' - — (abteofPiocc^q^,

Burford, bi-

day Book, theii
Burgh Cailk. id.

CmIcI of Dyoeror, 74, U,

INDEX.

215

CadwaUader, a British chief, 55.

Caer Badon, 51.

Caerieon, xx, 14.

Caesar, Julius, a, 4, 15, x6.

Caius Yolusenus, 15.

Cair Seeeint, 3X.

Calchytibe, synod at, 65.

Caledonians, the, 6, xx.

Caligula, emperor, x8, 19.

Calixtus, pope, 1^3, 197.

Calphumius Agncola, 25.

Cambridge, xx.

Cameleac, bishop of Llandaff, 80, 93.

Camelon, 5x.

Camulodunum, x8, 19, 2x.

Cangii, a British tribe, so.

Canterbury, ",S3f 63, xo8.

■ and York, contest for the

primacy, X67.
Cantii, a British tribe, 9.
Canute, son of Sweyn, X09, xxo, xxx,

1x3 ; reign of, xx3— xis.

II., of Denmark, X73.

of Denmark,
X67, 17a

son of Sweyn

Caraicalla, son of Sererus, 28.
Caractacus, king of the Silures, 20.
Caradoc of Llancarvan, 51, x66, X73.
-^— — son of Grifl&n, X27, x68.
— lord.of Morganwg, x6s.

^— — Owen ap, X96.
Carausius, 30, 3X, 44.
Carbry Riada, a, 48.
Cardigan, kings of, 74.
Carinus, emperor, 30.
Carlisle, xx.

■ see of, founded, aoo.
Camim, 72, 73.

Carus, emperor, 30.
Cassi, a British tribe, 17.
Cassiterides (Sdlly Isles), 3.
Cassivellaunus, (or Cassolaulus), x6,

Catus Decianus, the procurator, 20,

3X.

Catyeuchlani, a British tribe, 9.
CeadwaUa, 60.
Ceawlin 0xetwalds^, 52.^
Cecilia, oaughter of mlliam I., 159.
Cenimagni, a British tribe, X7.
Cenred of Northumbria, 62.
Centwine of Wessex, 59, 60.
Cenwalch of Wessex, 56, 57, 58.
Cenwulf of Mercia, 71.
Ceolf brother of Ceawlin, 52.
Ceolred of Mercia, 62.
Ceolwulf of Mercia, tx.

■ usurper in Merda, 8x.

■ of Northumbria, &, 63, 64.
-^— of Wessex, 53.

Cerdic, so, sx.

Cerdic's ford, battle of, 5x.

Charlemagne, 70, 71.

Charles the Bald, of France, 76.

the Simple, of France, 89, xsa.

Chester, xx, 53.

see of, founded, 17a

Hugh, earl of, X89.

Ralph de Gemon, earl of, aos.

Chester-le-Street, 81.
Chichester made a bishop's see, X70«
Chlorus, Constantius, 20, 30, 3X.
Christiem, a Danish bishop, 167.
Christina, sister of Edgar Atheling,

X77, 170. X9X.
Chrysanthus, ^
Chiu-ch, the, m Anglo-Saxon times,

140.
Churl-king, meaning of, xxx.
Cinobellinus, king of Britain, x8.
Cinque Ports, the, 208.
Cirencester, xx, 52, 54.
Clapa, Oseod, 1x7, 120, 125.
Clare, Gilbert de, X95.

Richard de, 205.

Claudius, emperor, X9, ao.

■ II., emperor, 29. "V

Paulinus, propraetor, 29.

Clement of Rome, X3.

Cler^,the, in Anglo-^axon times, X40.

Clodius Albinus, 26.

Clontarf, battle of, xxo.

Cloveshoo, synod of, 63.

Coel, king, 39.

Coelestius, 34.

Coenred of Mercia, 6x, 62.

Coins, British, 4.

Colchester, xx, x8, 29.

Colmsm, bishop, 58.

Colonies, Roman, xx.

Columba, 52.

Comin, a Norman, made earl of

Northumberland, X63.
Commius, king of the Atrebates, 15,

Commodus, emperor, 35, 36.

Compurgators, 146.

Conan, x83.

Consilt, battle of, 207.

Constance, daughter of William I.

x6o.
natural daughter of Henry

I., X92.
Constans, emperor, 32.
son of the usurper Constan-

tine, 35.
Constantine the Great, 29, 3x, 32.

—— — the younger, 32.

— ^— — the usurper, 3§, 36.
II. of Scotland, 8x, 85.

^i6

INDEX.

Constantine III. of Scotland, 94, 95.

Constantius, emperor, 32, 33.

— — — — a eeneral of Honorius, 36.

Cnlorus, 29, 3o» 3^-

Copsi, a partisan of the Normans, 163.
Corfes-^eat, zoz.
Coritavi, a British tribe, 9.
Comavii, a British tribe, p.
Cornwall, a bishop's see iounded in,

9a
Coscets,^ of the Domesday Book, 278.
Cospatric, earl of Northumberland,

163, 164, X77.
Cnda^ 52.

Crispm, William, Z96.
Cromlechs, 8.
Crusades, the, 185.
Cuckamsley lull, zo6.
Cunobelin, z8, 20.
Cutha, 52.

of Mercia, 63.

Cuthbert, St., 60, 8z.
Cuthred of Kent,^ 7X.

of Mercia, 63.

■ of Wessex, 55.

II. of Wessex, 63.

Cwichelm, 52.

son of Cynegils of Wessex,

Cwichelm's hlaew, zo6.
Cynegils of Wessex, 53, 54, 55,
Cyneheard of Wessex, 65.
Cynewulf of Wessex, 63, 65.

the atheling, 62.

Cynric, 50, 51.

the atheling, 63.

Cynulf of Mercia, 70.

Dalreodi, 2. ^ ^

Damnii, a British tribe, 10.

Danegeldy the, z6z.

Danels^h, the, 84.

Danes m England, 83, 135.

Daniel, bishop of Bangor, 14.

Dathi, an Irish kine, 49.

David, St., early foimdation of the

see of, 51.
1, of Scotland, X98, X99, 203,

206, 207.

■ bishop of Bangor, Z97.
Decius, emperor, 29.
Degsastan, 53.
Deua, kingdom of, 4^.
Demetae, a British tnbe, 9.
Derby^ 92.

Desticius Juba, propraetor, 29.
Deusdedit, archbishop, 61.
Devon, a bishop's see founded in, 90.
Dicalidonae, the, 33.
JXdJus, a6.

Dio Cassius, 4, z6, 29, 2z.
Diocletian, emperor, 30, 3Z.
Diodorus Siculus, on Britain, 3, 5.
Diuma, bishop, 57.
Divitiacus, a Gaulish king, 2, 25.
Dobuni, a British tribe, 9.
Dolfin, a Northman, Z84.
Domesday Book, notice of the, 253,

X73-.
Domitian, emperor, 33, 24.

Domnoc, see of, founded, 58.
Donald Bane, Z84, Z85.
Donemouth, 65.
Dorchester, zz.

in Oxfordshire, 35, 58, 86.

Dore, 72.
Dover, z2z, 162.
Dro|^o, cotmt of Mantes, 102.
Druids, the, 7.
Dubhgalls, the, 67.
Dublin, 69, 72, 89, 92, 96, X03, Z04,
zzo, XZ5.

the see of, founded, iz6.

Dubritius, 14, 51.
Dumbarton, xx.
Dumnonii, a British tribe, 9.
Duncan of Scotland, X84, 185.
Dun-Seatas, Ordinance of the, 143.
Dunstan, 97, 98, 99, xox, zoa.
Durham, see of, founded, Z04.
Durotriges, a British tribe, 9.
Dynwal Moelmud, 55, 90.

Eadbald of Kent, 54, 55.
Eadbert of Kent, 62, 63.

; Northumbna, 63, 64.

Eadsige, archbishop, xzo. ^
Eadulf, earl of Northumbria, ZX7.
Eadulfs ness, 123.
Ealdorman, the, X44.
Ealdred, 94.

Ealdulf of Bamborough, 94.
Ealhere, ealdorman of Kent, 75.
Ealhmtmd, 69.

Ealstan, bbhop of Sherborne, 74.
Eanfleda, 54, 55, 56.
Eanfrith of Bemicia, 55.
Eardwulf of Northumbria, 69, 7X.
East Anglia, kingdom of, 52.
Eboracum, 28, 3X.
Eborius, a bishop, 32.
Edbert (Praen) ot Kent, 69, 7a
Edburga, queen, 65, 70.
Edgar, reign of, 99, xoo.

king of Scotland, 195.

Atheling, 129, X33, i6x, 162,

X63, 164, X69, 177, X79, 183, X84,

194.
Edgith, daughter of Ethelred II.,

zox

INDEX.

2I7<

Edgitha (or EdithX wife of Edward

the Confessor, zao, zaa. 270.
EdsiTa, daughter of Edward the

Elder, 89.
Edith, daughter of Edward the El-
der, 8o.
— ^— daughter of Ed^, 99.
Edmund of East Anelia, 77.
■ son of Ethelnsd II., zoz,

titt Edmund II. {Ironside).
— \.j reign (^, 95> 9^*
II. (styled Ironside), reign

zzz

of. III — 113.
. son of Edmund Ironside,

zzz.

son of Harold II., Z30.

Ednoth, bi^op, Z09.

— ^— ^ the stallere, Z63.

Edred, son of EdwuxT the Elder,

rdgnof, 96 — 98.
Edric of Kent, 59.
— ^— Streona, «ddorman of Mercia,

ZO7, ZXO, zzz, ZX2, ZZ3, ZX4.

the Forester, x62, 169.

Edward I. (the Elder), reign of, 88—

94*
— — ^— II. the Martyr, reign of,

zoo, zoz.

-the Confessor, reign of, zz8 —

Z38.

sonof Ethelred II., zoz, X09,
zz6: see Edward the Confessor.
son of Edmund Ironside,

Z36.

z8^

son of Malcolm of Scotland,

Edwm of Northumbria (Bretwalda),

53> 54» 55-

son of Edward the Elder, 95.
brother of Leofric, zz6.
brother of Morcar, earl of
Northumbria, Z37, Z3z, X33, x6z,
z68.
Edwin's Oiff, 64.
Edwy, reign of, 98.
son of Ethelred II., zoz, ZZ4.

the Churl king, zzz, ZZ4.

Egbert of Kent, 58.

of Wessex,6s ; reign of, 70—72.

■ ■ a priest of lona, 62.

■ of York, his Penitential, Z48.
Egfinth of Mercia, 70.

Egfrid of Northumbria, 58, 59, 60.

Emion of Dyved, z83, Z83.

Elbot, 64.

Eleanor of Guienne, wife of Louis
VII. of France, 207 ; divorced,
and married to Prince Henry, ib.

Eleutherus, pope, 25.

Elfgar, son of Elfric, Z03.

Elfgar, son of Leofgar of Mercia, Z34f

Z25, Z36.

Elfget, zz6.

Elfgina, daughter of Ethelred IL,

lOZ.

Elfhere, the ealdorman, zo3.
Elfhun, bishop, Z09.
Elfnoth, the shire-reeve, Z25.
Elfric, ealdorman of Mercia, X02, Z03,

zos.
of Wiltriiire, archbishop of.

Canterbury, 104.
Elfrida, daughter of Alfred the Great,

80.
Elfritha, wife of Edgar, 99, zoz.
Elfwine, 50.
Elgiva, wife of Edwy, 08.

wife of Ethelred II., zoz.

Elias, count of Maine, 190, XQ5.
Eliaabeth, natural daughter of Henry

I., Z92.
Ellendune, 7Z.
Ella, the first Bretwalda, 49, 50.

of Northumbria, 52.

an usurper, 77.

Elmham, see of^ founded, 58.
Elphege, archbishop of Canterbury,

Z03, X08, ZC9, XZ4.
Elswitha, queen of Alfred, 79, 89.
Ely, see of, founded, 195.

siege of, z68.

Emma, wife of Ethelred II.} zoz, zo5»

ZZ4, ZZ6, ZI9, Z22.

Englefield, 78.

Enelish school at Rome, 7Z.

Eonric, a Danish king, 90.

Eoppa, 57.

Eorpwald of East Angha, 55..

Ercombert of Kent, 55.

Eric of Northumbria, 97, 98.

the ealdorman, zzz, zx6>

the earl, ZZ5.

Erkenwin, 5x.

Esc, son of Hengist, 38, 49.

Escesdun, zo6.

Escwin of Wessex, 58, 59.

Essex, kingdom of, founded^ 5z.

Geoffirey de Magnaville» earl

of, 205.
Echandun, battle of, 83.
Ethelbald, 75 ; reign of, 76.

of Mercia, 62, 63.

Ethelbert, reign of, 76.

of East Anglia, 65.

I. of Kent (Bretwalda), 52,

53. 54-

II. of Kent, 63, 64.

Ethelburga, queen, 54. S5- , ,
Ethelfleda, the lady of the Mercians,
80, 89, 9a.

2l8

INDEX.

Ethelfleda, wife of Edgar, 99.
Ethelfrith of Beraicia, 5s, 53^ 54.
Ethelgiva, daughter of Alfred the

Great, 80.
Ethelheard of Wessex, 63, 63.
Ethelred, reign of, 77 — 79.

II., reig[n of, xoi — iix.

of Mercia, 58, 59, 61.

' of Northumbria, 64, 69.

■ ' an East Anglian, 79.

' archbp. of GanterDury,. 78.

•^— — the ealdormaiK 86.
Ethelwald (MolO of Northumbria,

64.

the atheling, 76, 88, 89, 90.

Ethelward, the ealdorman, X03.
Ethelwerd, die historian, 77.
Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester,

99, Z03.

EuMslwulf, 72 ; reign of, 73 — 76.
Eudo the steward, 174.
Eustace of Boulogne, zoa, 162.

son of Stephen, aoz, 207.

Eutropius, 19.
Exeter, zz^ Z05, Z62.
Eystein, kmg of Norway, 208.

Fasting and penance, Z49.

Felix, a missionary, 55.

Ferrers, Henry de, X74.

Fei^dal system* noticp of the, Z54*

Finan, 57.

Fines, feudal, Z55.

Finngalls, the, 67*

Fitzlutmon, Robert, Z65.

Fitz-Osbem, William, earl of Here.

ford, Z62.
Five Bnrehs, the, 96.
Flambard, Ralph, Z56, t8o, z8z, Z89,

X93, 19s, zoo.
Flanders, Baldwin II., count of, 80.

7r\*J^°* X52, 159.

■■■ VII., Z97-

- Robert, count of, Z73.

William, count df, Z98, Z99.

Flavia Cacsariensis, 0, 47.
Flemings, the, in Wales, 166^ Z94.
Florianus, emperor, 30.
FolkloMd^ Z44.

FolkmoUt Z30.

Forest laws, Norman, Z56.

Fortresses and camps, Roman, za

Foss-way, its presumed course, zz.
Frankpledge, view of, Z39.
Fraomarius, 33.
Frena, an Anglo-Dane, Z03.
Frethem, ^.
Friduifsen, Sig^e, 4a.
Frithona, archbishop, 6z.
fiythogkb, queea, 63*

lop of Winches-

Fulham, the Northmen at, 85.
Fulk of Anjou, Z95, X98, 200.
Fullolaudes, 33.

Gadeni, a British tribe, zo.

GallMi, emperor, 22.

Galerius, emperor, 3Z.

Galgacus, 24.

Gallienus, emperor, 29.

Gallus Hostilianus, emperor, 29.

Game-laws, early, Z37.

Gand, Gilbert of, 164, Z76.

Geoffrey of Anjou, Z99, 200, 206, 207..

Monmouth, 5x.

Gerberoi, sie^e of, zjz.
Germanus, bishop ot Auxerre, 38.
Gemon, Ralph, de, 205.
Gerontius, 35, 36.

Gervase, natunu son of Stephen, 202.
GesitAs, what, Z44.
Gessoriacum, z5, 3Z.
Geta, son of Severus^ 28.
Giffiurd, Walter, ij^

William, bishc

ter, Z94.
Gilbert, natural son of Henry I., Z92..

bishop of St Asaph, ao6.

of Gand,. Z64, Z76.

Gildas, Z3.

Gisele,daughterof Charles die Simple,

Githa, mpther of Harold IL, Z30, Z63.

daughter of Itarold II>, Z30.

Glamorgan, conquest of, by the

Normans, Z65.
Glass and pottery, Romany xa, Z4.
Gloucester, xx, 52.
Robert of Caen, earl of,

Z92, z^Q, 203, 204, 205, ao6.
Gn. Luciuanus, propraetor, 29.
Goda, a Devonsnire thane, Z02.
daughter of Ethelred II., zox,

X2Z.

Godfrey of Bouillon, X2z, z86.
Godred, kii^s of the Isle of Man, 206.
Cronaii, king of the Ide of

Man, z6z, Z63, Z82.
Godwin the eajn, X03, xz6, xz8, zao,

X2X, X22, X23, X24.

son of Harold II., X3a

Gordian the Younger, emperor, 29.
Gormo IIL, of Denmark, 89.
Gratian, emperor, 34.

usurper, 35.

Greenfield, Ricluu-d, X65.
Gregory the Great, pope, 53.
Grimn, the Welsh king, 9x, Z22, Z25,

Z26, X27.
son of Rhys 1^ Tudor, x66,

X9S.

INDEX.

219

Griffin ap Cooan, of North Wales»
169, 171, 197, ao3.

Gritk, what. 14s.

Guader, Raq>h de, 169.

Gudrun, niece of Harold Hardrada,
130.

Guitmmid, the monk, 156.

Gundred, alleged daughter of Wil-
liam I., z6o.

Gunhilda^ sister of Sweyn, 105.

-^— — daughter of Canute, Z13.

■ niece of Canute, 1x5, zaa

sister of Harold II., 130.

-^— — daughter of Harold 11.,

Guorthemir, 37.
Guorthigim, 37.
Guth^^, son of Sihtric of North-

umhria, 94.
Outhrum. 8z, 83, 85, 86.
Gwjnnneth, a welsh state, 74, 91, 93.

■ ■ - Owen, 203, 206, 207.
GWythian, St., an Irish mis»onary,

Gsrrth, tvother of Harold II.» 129,
»3o»i33-

Haco the earl, 170.

Hacon, a Christian Northman, 66.

— -^ the earl, 1x5.

Hadrian, empexor, 24, 25.

Haeretha-land, 65.

Halfdane, a Northman, Sx, 82.

Harold I., rei^ of, 1x5, xx6.

■ ■ — ■ II., reign 01, X28^X34.

■ sonof £url Godwin, z2o— 228^:
see Harold JI.

— ; son of Harold II., 130.

son of Sweyn, kiiig of Den-

mark, X67.

Hardrada, 104, Z3x, X32.

Harthacnut, 1x4, xx6 ; rrign of, Z17.
Hasdng, a Northman, 86, 87.
Hasdngs, hattle of, X32.
Heahmund, hishop of §herhome, 78.
Hearda-Cnut : see Harthacnut,
Heathfield, synod at, 5^
Hebrides, conquest of the, by the

Northmen, 87.
Helena, a British princess, 99, 30.
Heliogabalus, emperor, 29.
Helvius Pertinax, 26.
Henge&tdown, 79..
Hengist, 37» 38r
Henry III., empexor, 1x3, X24.

■ v., eix4>eror, X95, 198.

■ I., reisn of, X9x— 200.
•——son of William I., 159, 178,

182, 183, 184, 185 : see Henry i.
——•— grandson of William I., 159.

Henry, natural s<» of Henry I., 192.
prince, son of Maud, 207,

208.

earl of Huntingdon^ 207.

of Blois, bishop of Wmche&-

ter, 200, 204, 205, 206, 207.
Heptarchy, the, 46.
Herbert the chambexlain, 776.
Hereford, the see of, founded, 58.
Hereward, X67, x68. .
Hermin Street, the, xz.
Herodian, 4, 6, 96.
Herodotus, 2.
Hertford, synod of, 58.
Hervey, first bishop of Ely^ X95.
Hii (lona), the monastery m, 52, 62,

7z, Z02.
Holm, battle at the, in Kent, 89.
Holy Land : see Crusades.
Honorius, emperor, 34, 35.
ardibishop of Canterbury,

57-
Horesti, a British tribe, 24.

Horsa, 37.

HousecarleSf what, Z44.

Howel Dda, 74, 90, 97.

Hris, brother of the Welsh king,

Hubba, the Dane, 82.
Huda, ealdorman, 75.
Hugh, count of Vermandcns, 187.

of the Temple, z99.

Hugo, a traitor, Z05.

abbot of Cluny, z8o.

Humfreville, Gilbert, 165.
Hunfrid the cook, ij6.
Hustings whaL X39.
Huwal^ king of the West Welsh, 94.
Hwiccians, thc^ 71.

la, St., an Irish missionary, Z4.

lago of Gw3nnieth, 9Z.

Ibemia : see Ireland,

Iceni, a British tribe, 9, 20.

Ictis, describe by Diod<uiis Si-

culus, 5.
Ida, 5z*
Ikenud Street, its presumed course,

zz.
Imanuantius, lung oi the Trinoban-

tes, Z7.
Ina of Wessex, 60, 6z, 6a.
Indulf of Scotlanc^ ^
Ingwair, a Danish dud*, 78.
Invasions, what, 175.
lona, 5a, 62, 7X, xoa.
Ireland, notices of the afiairs of, 9^

49, 60, 68, 7Z, 8z.
Itinerary of Antoninus, 3.
Itius Prartus, z6.

«20.

INDE3C,

farrow, 6$.

Fehmarc, a Scottish chief, 1x5.

ferusalem, Latm kingdom of, x88.

festyn, lord of Glamorgan, 182, 183.

Fohn, Oliver St., 165.

■ XVI., pope, X04.

the Flemmg, 165.

• the Precentor, 61.

Jorwerth, prince of South Wales,

193. 195-
Toseph, St, of Arimathea, 13.
"ovian, emperor, 33.
ovinus, 33.
udith, <^ueen, 73« 76.

Mofe of Tostig, X27, xa8, X30.

niece of William I., X67, xja

Julian, emperor, 32, 33, 44

son of Constantine, 36.

Juliana, natural daughter of Henry

I., XQ2.

Julius Frontinus, propraetor, 22.
Junius, M. D., propraetor, 29.

Kenneth II., of Scotland, 74, xoa

Kentj kingdom of, 49.

Kentigem, X4> 52.

Ketil, son of Tostig, 130.

King among the /^glo-Saxons, X42.

Knight, various meanings of the
term, X78.

Knights' feeSf their nature and num-
ber, 155,

of St. John of Jerusalem,

X98.

Templars, 197.

Laberius, x6.

Ltet, a class so termed, 140.

Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury,

X67, x^o, x8x, X82.
Latian.cities, xx.
Laurentius, archbishop, 54.
Leicester, xx, 92.
Leo^^, bishop of Hereford, 125.
Leomc of Mercia, X2x, X26.

an abbot, 133.

Leofw^in, brother of Harold II., X22,
^ 129, X35.

Lcvenmaur : see Lucius.
LidniuB, emperor, 3X.

ItaUcus, propraetor, 25.

Limenemouth, 86.
Lincoln, xx.

see of, founded, 170.

Lindisfame, see of, founded, 48 ; the

church destroyed, 65.
Liofa, an outlaw, 96.
Llandaff, see of, founded, 14.
Llewelyn aj) Sitsylht, 91.
Z^iUuur Urticus, propraetor, 35.

London, 9, ix, ax, 73, 80, 85, xo2,

XO3, X07, X09, IXX, XX2, 1x3, X2I,

X23, X3X, 166, 170.
— — ^ ihe see fotmded, 53.
Lothaire of Kent, 59, 60.
Lothen, a Danish chief, x2o«
Louis VI. of France, X95.

VIL, 207.

king of Aries, 80.

son of Charles the Simple, 94.

Lucilianus, Gn., propraetor, 29.
Lucius, king, X4, 25.

Verus, emperor, 25.

Ludeca of Mercia, 72.
Lu^dunum, battle of, 26.
Luidhard, a bishop, 52.
Lupicinus, a genend, 33.
Lupus Virius, propraetor, 26, 27.
Lympne, a Roman fortress, xo.

Mabel, wife of Robert, earl of Glou-
cester, X92.
Macbeth, a Scottish chief, 1x5, 124.
Maccus, king of the Isles, xox.
Macrinus, emperor, 28, 29,
Madoc, prince of Powys, 207.
Maeatae, the, 6, xx, 27.
Maegla, 5X.
Maenius Agrippa, 25.
Magnaville, Geoflfrey de, 205.
Magnentius, 32.
Magnus I. otNorway, x2o.

III., X89, X93.

v., ao6.

son of Harold, 130.

Malchus,' bishop of Waterford, x88. "
Malcolm of Scotland, 96.

II., XX5.

III., X63, 167, X69, 171,

183. 184.

IV., 207.

Idn^ of Cumberland, xox.

Mallet, William, X95.

Man and the Isles, notices of, 70,
x6x, X89.

Marcianus Heracleota, 3.

Marcus, 35.

Aurelius, emj^ror, 25.

Marearet, queen, sister of Edgar
Atheling, 167, X84.

Marius Vderianus, propraetor, 29.

Martinus, praefect, 32.

Mary, daughter of Stephen, 2ox.

Mathraval, kings of, 74

Matilda of Flanders, wife of Wil-
liam I., XS2, X59» 173'

wife of Stephen, 20X, 205.

daughter of William I., x6a

daughter of Fulk, earl of

Anjou, T97, X98*

INDEX.

221

Maud, wife of Henry I., 191, 193,

197.
■ ' daughter of Henry I., 191,

X95, X98, X99, 200, 203, ao3, 304,

ao5, 306.
>' two natural daughters of

Henry I.| 192.
da

aughter of Stephen, 202.
^ wife of David of Scotland, 198.
Maurice, bishop of London, 192.
Maxentius, emperor, 31.
Maxima Caesanensis, 9, 10, 47.
Maximian, ^,31,
Maximinus I., emperor, 39.

II., emperor, 30.

Maximus, 35.

• Clemens, 34.
Meatae, a British tribe, zx.
Medeshamstede, the abbey of, foimd-

ed, 57.
Melaghlin, king of Ireland, X03.
Melbethe, a Scottish chief, 115.
Mellitus, archbishop, 53, 54.
Menapii, the, 30.
Mercia, kingdom of, founded, 52.
Meredith of Dynevor, 91.
Meretun, 78.
Merlesuain, 162, 164.
Mervin, prince of Powys, 88.
Mid-Saxon kingdom, 46.
Milo the porter, 176.
Milton, in Kent, 86.
Minocynobellinus, a fugitive Briton,

x8.
Moelmud, Dynwal, laws ascribed to,

35-
Mona, 7, 2x, 32.

Money, Saxon, 144.

Monmouth, Geoffrey of, 51.

Montgomery, castle of, 162.

• Roger, earl of Shrews-
bury, x82.

Hugh, earl, Z89.

Morcar, the thane, no.
■ earl of Northumbria,

z6x, 183.

X27,

I3i» I33» iOi» 102.
Morgan, oishop of St. David's, Z04.
Mortimer, Ralph de, 169.
Mul of Wessex, 60, 6z.
Mundf what, X38.

Nectaridus, 33.

Neot, St., 83.

Nennius, 51.

Neratius Marcellus, 24.

Nero, emperor, 20, 22.

Nerva, emperor, 24.

Nesta, a Welsh princess, X92.

Neufmarch^, Bernard of, 183.

New Forest, formation of the, X71.

Niall, king, 02.
Nice, council of, 33.
Ni/lheim^ what, 46.
Nigel, bishop of Ely, 304.
Ninias, 34, 48.
Norman era, the, 153.
Northmen, the, 65.
Northumberland, Robert Mowbray,

earl of, 185.
Northumbria, kingdom of, founded,

SI-
Norwich, see of, founded, x84«
Novantae, a British tribe, zo.
Numerianus, emperor, 30.

Ockley, battle of, 75.

CMo, archbishop of Canterbury, 9

of Bayeux, 163, X72, 173, 176,

182.

Odoacer, 39.

Offa of East An^lia, 62.

II. of Mercia, 63, 64, 65, 70.

Olaf of Norway, 104.

II., 104, XX5.

III., 173.

son of Godred Cronan, X93.

— — &on of Harold Hardrada, X32.

Olanege, 1x3.

Old Sarum, zx.

Open tnortht what, 146.

Orcades, the, 19, 24, 87.

Ordeal, three kinds of, X45.

Ordgar, the ealdorman, 99.

Ordovices, a British tribe, 9.

Ortok, z86.

Osbald, a usurper, 69.

Osbem, son ot Siward of Northum-
bria, X2^

Osbert of Northumbria, 77.

Osburga, wife of Ethelwulf, 73.

Osgod Clapa, X17, x2o, 125.

Oslac, 73.

earl of Northumbria, 100.

Osred I. of Northumbria, 62.

II., 65.

Osric of Deira, 55. ^

of Northumbria, 62.

the ealdorman, 74.

Ostmen, the, 49, 68.

Ostorius Scapula, 20.

Ostrith, oueen, 6x.

Oswald (Bretwalda), 55, 56.

Oswine of Deira, 56, 57.

a noble, 64.

Oswulf of Northumbria, 63.

Oswy of Northumbria, 56, 57, 58.

Otford, 64.

Otho, emperor, 33.

the Great, 89.

Ottadeni, a British tribe, xo.

322

INDEX.

Owen ap Edwin, 189.

Gwynneth, 203, 206, 907.

Pacatianus, propraetor, 32.

Papianus, praefect, 28.

Parisii, a British tribe, za

Patrick, St., 49.

Paul, St., i^..

Paulinus, bishop, 54, 55, 56.

Claudius, propraetor, 29.

Paulus, 32.

■ Orosius, x8

Peada of Mercia, 57.

Pelagius, 13, 34.

Penance, 149.

Penda of Mercia, 54, 55, ^7.

Penn, 57.

Pentecost's Castle, 123.

Perennis, pitetorian praefect, 95.

Perran-zabuloe : see Piran, SU

Pertinax, 26.

Peter, St, 13, 22.

■ the Hermit, 186.

Peterborough, monastery of, 57, 99,

133-
Petilius Cerealis, 21, 22.

Petronius TurpiUanus, 22.
Peutingerian Table, 3.
Pevensey, 10.
Peyerel, William, 160.
Philip, emperor, 29.

I., king of France, 179, 195.

Picts, the, I, II, 20, 34, 48, 59, 60,

61.
Pincanheale, synod at, 65.
Piran, St., 14.
Plegmund, archbishop, 79.
Polyaenus, 17.

Polybius, 3. )

Port, SI.

Pottery, Roman, 12, 14.
Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, 20.
Probus, emperor, 30.
Procopius, 39, 44.
Provertuides, 33.

Quenburga, queen, 54.

Queen among the Anglo-Saxons, 143.

Quintin, Robert St., 165.

Ralf the earl, 125.

Ralph, bishop of Durham: see

Flambard.
Raymond, count of Toulouse, 187.
Rayner the carpenter. 176.
Rechreyn, 68.
Reculver, lo.
Redburea, oueen, 71.
Redwald of East Anglia (Bretwalda),

S2> 54.

Reginald, earl of Cornwall, natural

son of Henry I., 192.
Regni, a British tribe, 9.
Regnold, a Danisb king, 93, 96.
Reuef, feudal, what, 155.
Remigius, bishop of Lincoln, 58, 174.
Reoda, a leader of the Scots, 2.
Restitutus, a bishop, 32.
Reymund, bishop of Sodorand Man,

189.
Reynelm, bishop of Hereford, 194.
Rhys ap Owen, x6p, 170.

—^ Tudor, 165, 170, 182, 183.

Richard II., duke of Normandy, 105.

son of William I., 159.

■ • natural son of Henry I., 192.

of Cirencester, ix.

the forester, 176.

Richborough, zo, zz.

Rjgwatla, brother of Griffin, 127.

Rivers, Baldwin de, 203.

Roads, Roman, xi.

Robert, son of William I., 159, 171,

182, 183, X85, 187.
natural son of Henry I. : see

Gloucester^

I., count of Flanders, 173.

II., X87.

earl of Mortain, 176.

of Jumieges, archbishop of

Canterbury, X19, X2Z, 123, 124
the steward, 176.

Robert's Castle, 123.
Rochester, iz.

see of, founded, 53.

Castle, siege of, 182.

Roderic the Great, 82.

Roger, bishop of Salisbury, 194, 196,

204.

the farrier, 176.

Rolf, or Rollo, 158.

Roman provinces in Britain, 9 ; roads,

zi; cities, t^.; camps, ib.; vUlas, 12.
Rome, 35, 71, 76, 79, 8x, 96, 1x5, ^sji,

189.
Rotbeard : see Robert 0/ Jumieges.
Rytherch, sovereign of South miles,

91 ; another, z68, Z69.
Rywallon, prince of Powys, 92, Z64.

Salisbury, see of, 170.

Sallustius Lucullus, 24.

Sapor, 29.

Sarus, 35.

Saxon era, the, 42.

Saxons, the, 33, 42.

Scilly Isles, 2, 95.

Scotland, notices of the affairs of

o ^7. 73-

Scots, the, z, 2, 33, 48.

INDEX.

223

Seajcwulf, an abbot, 58.
S^^OQtiaci, a^ British tribe, 17.
Seius Satuminus, 35.
Selgovae, a British tribe, 10.
Selred of Mercia, 63.
Seneca, 20.

Sepulchral urns, Roman, xa, 14.
Said, of the Domesday Book, 178.
Seven Burghs, the, no.
Sevenis, emperor, 36, 37, a8.

■ a general, 33.
-^— — Alexander, emperor, 99.
Sexburga, queen, 58.
Shepey, the Northmen in, 7a, 75.
Sherborne, see of, founded, (^.
Sheriff's toum, 139.
Shrewsbury, Hugh Montgomery,

earl of, 189.

— ; Roger, earl of, 182.

Sibylla, daughter of Fulk of Anjou,

198.
Sidonius ApoUinaris, 44.
Siferth the thane, no.
Sigebert, 6q.

Sigeric, arcnbp. of Canterbury, 103.
Sigfrid, bishop of Chichester, 206.
Sigge, or Woden, a2^ 45.
Sigulo, Robert de, bishop of London,

205.
Sihtric of Northumbria, 94.
Silures, a British tribe, 20.
Simeon, abbot of Ely, i8x.
Simon Zelotes, 20.
Siric of East Anglia, 70.
Siricius, pope, 34.
Sitric Silkenbeard, xi6.
Siward of Northumbria, X2X, 134,

X2S.

abbot of Abingdon, XX9.

Bam, 168, X82.

Richard de, 165.

Skule, son of Tostig, 130.

Soc, what, 1^2.

Socmen, their state, 178.

Somerset, bishop's see founded in,

90.
Score, Peter le, 165.
Spearhafoc, bishop of London, X23.
Stamford-bridge, battle of, 132.
Standard, battle of the, 203.
Stephen, reign of, 201 — 208.

of Chartres, 187.

Stigand, bishop, 1x4, 1x9; archbishop

of Canterbury, X24, x6i, 167.
Stilicho, 34.
Stipendiary cities, xx.
Stonehenge, 8.
Strabo, 3, 5.
Streoneshealh, 58.
Stuf, 5x.

Suaebhard of Kent, 61.

Suessiones, the, 15.

Suetonius, ^, 20, 31, 33.

Sulby, Reginald de, X65.

Sussex, kingdom of, 49.

Sweyn, king of Denmark, 103, 105,

X09, XXO, I30, X67.

son of Canute, XT3.

son of Godwin, iso, X3X, X32,

X50.

Tacitus, 3, s, 7, x9, 3x, 33, 33, 34.

emperor, 30.

Tancred of Tarentum, 187.
Tasciovanus^ 18.
Templars, Knights, 197.
Tenants in capite, X75.
Teotenheal, battle of, 90.
Tezelin the cook, 176.
Thanet, the Northmen in, 75.
Thangbrand, 66.
Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury,

306, 307.

of Blois, X96.

Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop, 58,

59. 61, 134.
Theodonc, 39.
Theodosius, a general, 33.

emperor, 34.

IL, emperor, 35.

Thetford, see of, founded, X70.
Thieves, Anglo-Saxon laws against,

Thingatneny what, 144.

Thomas, archbp. of York, 167, X89.

Thored, a Northman, xoo.

Thorfinn, a Northman, 184.

Thorold, abbot of Peterborou|;h, X67.

Thurkill, earl of East Angha, X07,
109, XX4, 1x6.

Thurkytel, the Northman, 93.

Thurstan, abbot of Glastonbury, X73.

archbishop of York, 196,

199.

Thyra, daughter of Edward the
Elder, 89.

Tiberius, emperor, 18.

Tinchebrai, battle of, X94.

Tithes, probable origin of, in Eng-
land, 134.

Titus, emperor, 33, 33.

Tofi the Proud, 1x7,

Tostig, son of Godwin, 134, 135, X37,
128, 129, X30, 131, X32.

Towns, British, 9.

Trahem, of North Wales, 169, X71.

Traian, emperor, 24.

Trebellius Maximus, :3.

Trent, battle of, 59.

Trcveri, 34.

224

INDEX.

Trinobantes, a British tribe, 9, 17.
Trinoda necessitas, what, 141.
Tnunwine, a bishop, 59.
Turberville, Payen de, 165.
Turgesius, 72, 74.

Ubba, a Danish chief, 78.

Ufl&i, SI-

Uhtred the ealdonnan, zox, zzz.

XJlf, bishop of Dorchester, 123.

Ulfkytely ealdonnan of East Anglia,

10^.
Ulpius Marcellus, 25.
Urban II., pope, z86.
Urns, Roman sepulchral, 12, Z4.
Uwen of Gwent, 94.

Valens, 20.

emperor, 33.

Valentia, 9, zo, 33, 47.
Valentinian, emperor, 33.

' the Younger, emperor,

34-

III., emperor, 39.

Valentinus, a conspirator, 33.
Valerian, emperor, 29.
Valerius Pansa, 25.
Valhalla, 45.
Vavassors, Z78.
Vecturiones, the, 33.
Veneti, a Gaulish tribe, Z5.
Venusius, 20, 22.
Veranius, propraetor, 20.
Verulamium, Z7, 2z.
Vespasian, x9, 22.
Vettius Bolanus^ lieutenant, 22.
Victor, son of Maximus, 34.
Victonnus, a Moor, 30.
Vikings, the, 67.
Villeins, Villenage, Z78.
Virius Lupus, 26, 27.
Vitellius, emperor, 22.
Volusianus, emperor, 29.
Vortigem, Vortimer, 37.

Wada, 69, 7a

Walcher, bishop of Durham, Z72.

Waleran, earl, Z99, 200.

Wales, notices of the affairs of, 73,

90, 95, X64, X83.
Walls, Roman, enumerated, zo.
Walter the cross-bowman, Z76.

the Penny less, z86.

Waltheof, earl, z6z, Z67, Z70.
Warrenne, William, z6o.
Waterford, see of, founded, z88.
Watling Street, its presumed course,

11.
Weulh, or foreigners, 140.

Webheard of Kent, 6z.

Wed^ or pledge, 14a

IVer-gildf what, Z35.

Wessex, kingdom of, founded, 5Z.

Westmoreland, ravage of, zoo.

West Wales, 7Z.

Whitby, 58.

White Leaf cross, 89.

Wigheard, 58.

Wght, Isle of, ^z, 57, Z04, 105, Z06.

Wielaf of Mercia, 72, 73.

Wihtgar, 5z.

Wihtred of Kent, 6z, 62.

Wilferth or Wilfrid, archbishop of
York, 48, 58, 59, 62.

William the Bastard, duke of Nor-
mandy, Z22, Z30, Z32, Z33.

I., rei§n of, zs8— Z79.

II., reign of, z8o — z9o^

son of William I., zs9.

son of Robert of Normandy,

ZS9, 198, Z90

son of Henry I., Z9z, Z96,

Z97.

natural son of Henry I., Z92.

son of Stephen, 20Z.

natural son of Stephen, 202.

of Ypres, Z56, 205.

count of Eu, z88.

count of Mortain, Z94, 195.

bishop of Durham, z82.

bishop of London, Z22.

the earl, z62.

the Easterling, z6s.

of London, z6s.

Wilts, bishop's see fotmded in, 90.
Winchester, iz.

Book of, Z74.^

Winfrid, bishop of Mercia, 58.
Winwidfield, 57.
IVtte, Wite-themvt what, Z39.
Witenagemot^ its constitution, Z40.
Witikind of Corbie, 42.
Woden, or Sigge, 42, 45.
Wulfhere of Mercia, 57, 58.
Wulfnoth, father of Godwin, Z07.

-. son of Harold II., Z82.

Wulstan, archbishop of York, 97.

Xiphilinus, 4, 6, z6, 20, 27.

Yffa, 52.

York, zz, 28, 3z, 63, 69, 77, 93, Z3Z,

Z63, Z64.
Ypres, William of, zs6, 205.
Yrling, a Danish chief, Z2a
Ytene, a forest, Z7Z.

Zosimus, 44.

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III. A.D. 1485—1603. Fbom the Accession op Henby VII.

TO THE Death op Elizabeth.
lY. Aj>. 1603 — 1660. Fbom the Accession op James I. to

THE CLOSE OP THE COMMONWEAJTTH.

V. A.D. 1660 — 1714. Fbom the Restobation to the Death
OP QiJEEN Anne.

Sack Part will he complete in itself, toith separate
introduction, Tahles, Indices, ^c.

Also, in preparation.

A CONTINUATION OF *'THE ANNALS OF ENG-
LAND." From the Accession of George I. to the Present
Time. Library Edition.

THE MEW SOHOOL-HISTOET OF EUOLAIID. By

the Author of '<The Annals of England." Sixth Thousand.
Crown 8vo., with Four Maps, limp doth, 5s.

' with Coloured Maps, half roan, 60.

■ - , . ■■ >.■■■■*•

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Full text of "The annals of England, an epitome of English history [by W.E. Flaherty]. School ed"

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